AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT

INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM

The battle for individual freedom is summed up in these statements by Chris Rock. Will we allow ourselves to be ruled by an “intellectual elite” , and socialize all of the costs. Or will we allow each individual to rule himself,  with each person being responsible for his actions .  You either believe that top down decision-making by “the intelligent few” creates the best possible order for society, or you believe that each individual cooperating and competing with each other in the market, creates an order that utilizes scarce resources and knowledge more effectively.  This is what the history of the world is all about.

THE CONSTITUTION PROTECTS THE INDIVIDUAL FROM THE GOVERNMENT

The American Revolution set a different course in human history, a course that had never been tried before. It was fought for the idea that the individual was sovereign and had the right to rule himself. The constitution protected him from the concentrated power of Government run by a tyrannical “intellectual elite” from interfering in his decisions. The constitution doesn’t protect the Government from the people, it was set up to protect the individual from the Government. It is very difficult to get people to understand this most basic concept about our founding, because we are so far removed from our founding we don’t understand the principles on which it was founded. Read;” We’re All Born In The Middle Of The Story.”  The most basic concepts of our founding are not taught in our Government run school system. Government run schools produce graduates who think Government can solve all of our problems, and our public servants have “our best interests” at heart. We broke away from the King of England because we didn’t want a monarch ruling over us. Lets not bring back a ruling aristocracy because we think this time it will be different. History has shown us the error of this type of thinking.

Here are some quotes from “The Quest For Cosmic Justice”, by Thomas Sowell, chapter 4, “The Quiet Repeal Of The American Revolution”.

“But, unlike the French revolution or the Bolshevik revolution, for example, the American revolution and its resulting constitution did not center on a change in the cast of characters in high places or on a change in their political language or immediate policy agenda. Its central concern was in establishing new processes by which whoever occupied the places of power could be restrained and replaced. In short, it did not pretend to have a doctrinal truth but instead implied a deep skepticism that anyone had either a monopoly on doctrinal truth of such moral or intellectual rectitude as to be exempt from constraints, condemnations, or dismissals from office by their fellow-men.”

“What the American constitution established was not simply a particular system but a process for changing systems, practices, and leaders, together with a method of constraining whoever or whatever was ascendant at any given time. Viewed positively, what the American revolution did was to give to the common man a voice, a veto elbow room, and a refuge from the rampaging presumptions of his “betters.” That is why it was not simply a national phenomenon but has been seen by others in the world at large as a landmark in the general struggle for human freedom.”

That is also why it must be opposed by those with more ambitious visions–even if they do not consciously feel any animosity against constitutional freedoms–because, on issue after issue, those freedoms stand between the morally self-anointed and the realization of dreams which have overwhelming importance to them.”

This entry was posted on February 12, 2013 at 1:41 am and is filed under Government and Politics. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: American Revolution, Chris Rock, Individual Freedom, intellectual elite, Thomas Sowell, United States Constitution