Nicely Said

Dear Citizens,

I write as an ordinary citizen, I have done nothing remarkable or perhaps even noteworthy. I am a free thinker and under no obligations public or private. My thoughts are not subject to rule and are free from any authority except the authority of reason, truth and conscience. It is that conscience and my desire to see truth and logic prevail that drive me to fight against the tyranny of our ever growing oppressive government.

Getting to the crux of the matter, we are faced with serious economic problems, not just in Maine, but nationwide. It is evident to me that economic and political freedom go hand in hand; if you lose one, you will lose the other. I believe that you have noticed that there has been a serious decline in our individual rights, especially our freedom and property rights. If we are going to solve these problems, it might help to ascertain the cause of these problems. When I contemplate the fifty years of my life I am left with no doubt whatsoever that government in all forms not only creates most of our problems, it is also the greatest threat to our freedom.

What is government? What is politics? George Washington warned us that “government is not eloquence it is not reason it is force and like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” Thomas Paine rebuked government at it’s best is but a necessary evil at it’s worst an intolerable one. Politics is who gets to use this legalized force on who and for what purpose.

The old adage divide and conquer is prevalent in America today; we are not only divided political parties we are also divided into other factions such as rich and poor, young and old. We are divided ideologically by laws that the government has no moral or constitutional right to make, laws based on emotional and abstract notions.

Bribery, stealing, lying, selling political favors and so forth are easily recognized forms of corruption, however there are far worse forms of corruption that are not easily recognized, yet are widely practiced and accepted with respect by those who loathe the basic forms of corruption previously stated. It is the corruption of mind and spirit that comes from the conscious compromise of principle that one would openly admit they believe in. No shame is cast upon or held by the seekers of office who peddle false promises for votes. Politicians who cast burdens on some for the unearned benefits of others. I am disgusted with the majority of politicians who sell their souls for political power and become the darlings of those they lie to.

As I see it today, public policy is a maze of payoffs, kickbacks and shakedowns tangled up in political intrigue. Politicians expect people to be grateful for the shackles government attaches to them. We have become the economic slaves on the assembly line of the state. The economic crisis that has been created by government is far more than fiscal. As I mentioned before, economic and political freedom are correlative entities, again if you lose one you will lose the other. The abandonment of fundamental principles has set our once free society on a disastrous course. Our so called leaders shy away from principles like a vampire shy’s away from the cross. Why? Because principles interfere with their plans and their own selfish, partisan interest.

In a free society, the government does not have the right to determine how a businessman should serve the interest of society; nor should individuals be forced to serve others. Political force certainly does not solve economic problems, it causes them, and government control of the money supply has repeatedly caused economic instability. The great depression was aggravated by counter productive intervention by government. The agenda of less government and lower taxes and less regulation would be good, however, and most unfortunate, this formula would be antithetical to the standard of interest of professional politicians. Our current President who I will refer to henceforth as “the golden dancer” is a progressive Marxist who embraces policy that violates the very foundations of a moral and free society and he has ignored all of the conditions necessary to ensure economic stability and in fact has embraced policy that has been proven time and again to lead to economic disaster and a drastic decline in the standard of living. I question, how can he be so ignorant or perhaps I should question why he pursues a path of obvious destruction to the United States of America. The golden dancer is either stupid or evil, neither makes a good leader.

I know the concept of a “national will” or a “national goal” is the essence of tyranny. People, not government, have goals. The proper function of government is to maintain a condition of liberty allowing the individual the opportunity to accomplish those goals.
The stimulus package is referred to as federal money. What is federal money? It is money taken from the people. The basic means for doing this is taxing, borrowing or printing money.

Taxation comes in various forms. Income tax, tariffs, social security tax, medicare, medicade, licenses, fines, fees, permits, etc. All a burden on the people. The most common instrument for borrowing is selling bonds. Borrowing increases the national debt. The interest on the bonds is paid by tax dollars and the principle is commonly paid by selling more bonds, a burden on the people.

Printing money is the root cause of inflation. An increase in in the money supply causes prices to rise. In other words, it decreases the value of the dollar. Inflation is a flat tax that naturally puts the greatest burden on the poor, yet those same poor through constant indoctrination continue to support the politicians who chain them to low expectations and lives of poverty.

The lessons of a paternalistic government learned today must be unlearned. The notion that government can take care of you is a plague. It is a plague that destroys the moral, economic and political principles that made the United States the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world.

Nothing that out leaders can plan and order and rush around enforcing will take the place of personal initiative, competitive selection, the profit motive corrected by failure and the infinite process of hard work and personal ingenuity. These things constitute the life of a free society. The doctrines and policies of our own government are destroying these vital creative impulses. The policy of equalizing misery and organizing scarcity instead of allowing diligence, self interest and ingenuity to produce is killing the American Dream. Set the people free - get out of the way and let them make the best of themselves.

What will change the direction that our country is headed? What will change the abandonment of principles and the usurpation of our individual liberty? First, we need to be sure of ourselves, our principles, our purpose in life convictions and we must stand fast in the belief that politicians are our servants, we are the boss, not them. We must take charge of our own destiny. We can not hope that the politicians will change course we must make them change.

It serves us all to remember the words of Johann Wolfegang Von Goethe
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”

Yours In Liberty,

Beth A. O’Connor
Berwick, Maine

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