Saturday, February 21, 2009

Politics, again... (sigh)

Sorry readers. This one is about rights again. It is perfectly OK if you want to go do something else, because these fundamental truths will still be here when you get back.

Today, I am going to ask you to read and compare the Democratic Party platform of 2008 (found HERE) with an essay written by Ayn Rand (found HERE) entitled Man's Rights.

Since this is a request for you to do some work, and I know that some of you are too lazy to do so on your own, I will summarize. To wit: The Democratic Party, since before the turn of the twentieth century, has been interested in consolidating political and economic power into Government's hands in order to subjugate the people. They are doing this, one interest-group at a time, by creating rights where none existed previously and using the power of regulation and taxation to disarm their victims. Ayn Rand believes (as do I) that RIGHTS are something each person holds for themselves, and which do NOT impinge upon another's freedom to live and earn for himself (and dispose of those earnings) in any manner whatsoever, so long as no coercive force is involved.

The right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness does not mean that one person gets to gain them at the expense of another. The United States of today is far removed from that noble ideal.

(Lest you think I am absolving the Republican Party of any wrong-doing, the same statement applies to them, but with a different twist. The Republican Party is ALSO subjugating the people to their schemes by promoting fear of Government among their constituents while at the same time growing the very same government in the name of public security.)

Since this piece is about the Democrats though (and especially since they hold absolute political power at the moment), I will focus upon them.

In 1944, FDR put forth an "Economic Bill of Rights" which basically stated that the "People" (presumably, the working class) had a right to unearned economic benefits which were to be obtained by taking them from other People (presumably the "evil rich people"), in the name of fairness. This kind of populism works politically because usually there are many more working-class voters than there are potential victim voters. Throw into the mix an elaborate Ponzi scheme known as Social Security, and you now have an electorate that will become dependent upon Government for moneys extracted from others.

In 1960, the Democratic Party renewed this pledge of economic rights with these promises taken from the 1960 party platform:

“1. The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation.

“2. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation.

“3. The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living.

“4. The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home and abroad.

“5. The right of every family to a decent home.

“6. The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.

“7. The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accidents and unemployment.

“8. The right to a good education.”

Ayn Rand asked then, as we should ask now: "At whose expense?"
"Jobs, food, clothing, recreation(!), homes, medical care, education, etc., do not grow in nature. These are man-made values—goods and services produced by men. Who is to provide them?

If some men are entitled by right to the products of the work of others, it means that those others are deprived of rights and condemned to slave labor.

Any alleged “right” of one man, which necessitates the violation of the rights of another, is not and cannot be a right.

No man can have a right to impose an unchosen obligation, an unrewarded duty or an involuntary servitude on another man. There can be no such thing as “the right to enslave.”

A right does not include the material implementation of that right by other men; it includes only the freedom to earn that implementation by one’s own effort."


It is my firm belief that we are now at a perilous time in our Nation's history. As a nation of (ostensibly) free people, we should all be asking ourselves if we really want to go down this path. The Democrats' recently passed "Stimulus" bill is nothing more than a TRILLION DOLLARS (far worse actually, including interest) of pay-offs to their special-interest constituencies, big-government apologists, and anti-freedom groups who seek to disarm you and OWN you through regulation and wage-slavery. It is an unprecedented expansion of the Federal Government that makes Bush look like the amateur he was. As a citizen, it is your duty to read what is in this bill, understand it and its implications for restrictions on your freedoms, and then spread the word to others.

Your kid's future depends upon it.

Pax,

Newbius

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