From comments here from Fran and Hans:
Yes, the trolls are active … but consider …
… the Jefferson quote is the very heart of the “American Experiment” discussed in several recent comment threads …
… where is the outpouring of agreement from all the readers who are allegedly lovers of liberty ….
I fear Fran was correct in his assessment:
“A huge percentage of people will say to you that “I’m all for freedom, but–” And then comes the list of exceptions. Is it plausible that such persons, as desirous of coercing others as they are of being uncoerced themselves, would make comfortable allies?”
Just sayin’ … change my mind.
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Hans’ response was concerning my point of a downvote from a troll on a comment stating that Jefferson’s thoughts on Liberty were true. While trolls have their own purpose for lying and misinformation, I have another viewpoint. We should consider that this site may actually be making a small difference and that they are trying to marginalize.
I have written previously concerning the use of the word “but”. I limit my use of it because it is a tool used to belittle the initial precondition. If you disagree with a premise, just come right out and say it. I must admit that Fran’s use of how freedom can be twisted by people took me by surprise. There are some aspects that I personally feel come with no preconditions. Can you imagine stating: God is omnipotent but…
Anyone who puts preconditions on freedom would not be considered to be an ally. Preconditions on Liberty are a different premise. Consider:
- No one can think about the color magenta in the future. Anyone who is found guilty of this crime will be punished. How can there be a “but” when considering the state of freedom as what someone may think.
- Liberty is an external construct. For example: everyone has the Liberty guaranteed by the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and natural law. BUT non-residents and criminals will have some or all of their Liberty restricted.
I wrote another article detailing the differences between freedom and Liberty. Most people do not understand these concepts well enough to understand these differences.
Freedom can not be limited by man’s law. The misconceptions are similar to how the evil in this country have cancelled Republic and replaced it with Democracy. To return to Fran’s point, anyone who is limiting freedom does not understand what freedom means or represents. So I have to agree with his viewpoint that they could not be an ally (comfortable or not). How can you trust someone who has no foundation for why they are fighting?
Can we change this misconception? We should first ask how we got to this point where founding principles of the Republic have become corrupted?
I cannot conceive of limiting someone’s freedom. Let’s consider the concept of slavery as it pertains to Liberty. There is more slavery in the world today than in any other time in history. In this country, we think we are free because we are brave. Think about that in terms of today’s cancelled culture and whether it pertains to freedom or Liberty. We fought a war for Independence because we were taxed without Representation. Think about that in terms of today’s tax rates of over 50% with stolen elections.
Education is the responsibility of everyone. If we accurately define public virtue, freedom, Liberty and Sacred Honor, we can teach them. If we teach them, we do not have to worry about the use of “BUT”.
David DeGerolamo
From 2013
A Quest To Pursue Rightful Liberty
In Search of Mr. Jefferson’s Liberty …
Your thoughts are brain calisthenics. Thoughts that need to be thought are healthy exercise and stretches. You are making a difference and your readers are also. No buts.
Thank you kindly.
We don’t have representation when we used to have one US House member to every 30,000 citizens and now it’s 1 for every 750,000 to 1,000,000. We also have “representatives” that are more beholden to their donors and their party more than their constituents.
You are absolutely having an impact. If nothing else a gathering places for us knuckle draggers. No, I jest, sharing timely information, links and skills, news we can use, all very good stuff.
This article was fabulous. The conclusion to the June 5, 2013 article blew me away. I just sent to a family member and they were blown away. I have a lot to reflect on and will need to read and reread this for many a day.
For Janice, Jane, and others of like mind …
Welcome to the “quest”. I’m pleased you’re enjoying the ‘intellectual calisthenics’. David selected two essays I wrote in 2013 at the time I concluded no political solution to our government tyranny is possible.
The essay from June was my last attempt to influence people in the NC legislature. The essay from August was the beginning of my attempts to convince individuals to abandon political government.
In 2014 I published a further exposition on Common Law and Liberty: “How Will We Govern Ourselves … ?” Since that time I have published fewer essarys in this forum as certain members among the readership became hostile to concepts of Voluntaryism as the contemporary expression of Rightful Liberty.
In 2019 I made a final appeal to those who, in the NCRenegade comments, were advocating personal violence against the ‘wrong enemy’: “Fatal Conceit” is an attempt to redirect the frustration of certain authors and readers in a way that might actually result in a net increase in personal Liberty.
I hope you find these additional essays as engaging as David’s article (above) and the two links he provided from 2013.
Have a blessed day, Hans
Thank you Hans, for sharing more of your essays to read. I deeply appreciate your response here. I am looking forward to reading what you posted today. Please consider staying active in this forum. Your voice is appreciated.
Hi Jane -- you are most welcome.
If you’re feeling intellectually adventurous, David has retained the biography pages from his 2018 PATCON. I was a speaker and on my bio page is a list of links to essays of which I’m proud to have written.
Cheers, Hans