Mark, I admire your optimism. As the article states “Many around the world would gladly take our crisis—if they could enjoy our freedoms.” My concern is that America is losing its “freedoms”. American “Exceptionalism” is derived from Liberty, which is unique in Mankind. As Bono said in his speech at Georgetown University “America is not a place; it is an idea(l)”. youtube/watch?v=Tg3Xzh2cXD8 For two hundred thousand years, Modern Man existed as subservient to some collective or authority; be it a group or Gods or one “God” or a King or a Dictator or a Government (socialist, democratic, Marxist or fascist, etc). The Age of Enlightenment (18th century = 300 years ago/200,000 years = 0.15% of Human existence) gave birth to a human experiment called America. And the experiment was a success, which enabled Mankind to grow from a few hundred thousand specimens to over 7,000 million inhabitants on earth. And a world mortality rate from less than 30% in the 18th century to over 80% today. Liberty is derived from both a devotion to the Rights of the Individual (not the majority or some faction or some Elite) and the absence of an authority controlling our commerce and our lives…with the limited role of Government, adhering to a Rule of Law, that assures each of us 1) cannot initiate force against another (no fear from physical harm), 2) cannot take what rightfully belongs to another (property rights) and 3) must honor our contracts (free markets). Conversely, to the extent that a society allows some authority to control more and more of our commerce and our lives, then we lose Liberty. An Exceptional Nation does not lose Liberty all at once; for such a nation would be mighty, rise up and defeat any threat to Liberty. No….Liberty is not lost suddenly. Liberty is lost very gradually, slowly over many decades, even centuries…tens (the US Constitution had 6 pages) , then hundreds and then thousands and then tens of thousands and then hundreds of thousands and then millions and then tens of millions and then hundreds of millions and then billions of laws at a time. Today, America has so many laws for so many municipalities, states and the federal Government that no one can know even a millionth of the laws. As America loses Liberty, gradually over time, the world crises become more frequent and graver…until the world faces a crisis that destroys Liberty beyond return (perhaps, the collapse of the US Dollar). As Benjamin Franklin answered in 1789, when asked what type of Government the Constitutional Congress had created; he answered “A Republic, if they (their Posterity = you and me) can keep it.” And, as Thomas Jefferson said “the price of Liberty is eternal vigilance”. What I fear [as I live…not in a Constitutional Republic, which our Founders created but rather…in this Democracy that We the People, Jeffersons and Franklin’s posterity, have distorted America into] is that most of We the People do not understand or know the meaning of Liberty; so how can We the People be vigilant in preserving our Liberty? If We the People no longer know the meaning of Liberty, then Liberty is already lost. And IF Liberty is lost, then America is but an enormous 300,000 ton cruise liner decelerating through the ocean, having lost its engine miles and years ago. The world desperately needs America (the Human ideal) to regain its Liberty. Yours in Liberty, Cliff
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 20:41:01 +0000
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