Yesterday I cobbled together some bits from other blog discussions to try and prompt debate on how to act as a responsible adult in a world full of dependent adult-children.
I postulated we face a decision among three options:
1. continue the seemingly fruitless path of resistance / restoration
2. accelerate the collapse of society with hope of restoration afterward
3. step outside society and live ‘outlaw’ … but LIVE !
In fact we have a fourth option which I’ll call “#0”. Option #0 is do nothing, play ostrich, and pray that nothing really bad happens to as we try to ignore the destruction of our ‘last best hope of earth’.
Option #0 is the path chosen by most people you meet each day. But “do nothing” is hardly the act of a responsible adult … ‘for those who have the ability to act, have the responsibility to act’ (attrib. Demosthenes ?).
“The last best hope”, of course, refers to these united States. The phrase originates in Lincoln’s address to Congress, 1 December 1862. “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth”.
How ironic that a President can both recognize the value of his country yet spend all his energy to destroy the philosophy of Confederation which made it great. And in so doing, destroy his fellow Americans who, out of reverence for the ideal, identified their new alliance with the same name. (Remember, we began under the Articles of Confederation, before the ‘more perfect union’ under the Constitution.)
Little wonder Obama envisions himself a modern day Lincoln, willing to tear the country apart to “reconstruct” it; transforming the union under the pretense of preserving it. Kind of like George W. Bush announcing he would ‘abandon the free market in order to save it”.
But I digress. I have reached a point in my journey where I am convinced that WE who love Liberty and respect the Founders’ intent are now a small minority. With governors who believe in “judicial interpretation” of our Constitution, we are no longer protected by the Rule of Law. The progressive agenda transforms us from Principle to Piracy.
We have become what our Founders feared most – a democracy; a society where the will of a simple majority may strip property from its owners for redistribution to those who vote in favor of that theft, where the will of the people supersedes unalienable Rights of man.
So, I dismissed #0 and #1 as viable behaviors for rational adult humans. Yesterday I stated my dis-inclination towards #2. I said I was uncertain of the plan and outcomes from accelerating the collapse. Upon further reflection I cannot conscience #2 even if the plan was perfect and the outcomes guaranteed.
Why, you ask? (I should require that you ask, in order to engage an altogether too passive audience … but I find that I write more to clarify my thoughts than to persuade.)
Why indeed. Because I believe in the two rules for civil society: Do not encroach on others or their property; Do everything you agreed. If I were to embrace #2, or become the Cockapoo (be the government’s pet — and contribute to sucking it dry), I would encroach on the property of others who may still be honorable and striving to pursue #1 or #3. Through #2 I would actively violate their Rights, and that is just not acceptable.
The only action left to me is #3.
I find this conclusion interesting, because it is the path of action of John Galt in “Atlas Shrugged”. The character Galt is simultaneously a Ghost and a Mole. Having withdrawn his sanction as a victim and relocated his public production to “Atlantis”, John Galt is the Ghost. As a lowly employee of Taggart Transcontinental, he is the consummate Mole.
So, dear reader, does the phrase Freedom Outlaw fit you ? It feels pretty good on me.
John Galt was able to accelerate the destruction of the government by removing the producers. Undermining the literal foundation of the economy’s engine was effective but producers need two things to follow this course:
We do not have a John Galt but neither did our founding fathers. We need fathers and mothers to stand up for our future. Put the egos, greed and political ambition aside: they will not serve us in a dictatorship that will eliminate wealth and personal freedom for the glory of the state. The days of compromising our principles are over. Now we must ensure that our leaders understand this by electing principled candidates and exposing the leaders who are not principled.
What our Founders had, that we don’t, was a resolve to do what they knew was right.
Even the tyrant Lincoln ‘got it right’ when, in his first innaugural address, he acknowledged:
“Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their CONSTITUTIONAL right of amending it, or their REVOLUTIONARY right to dismember or overthrow it.”
The path of the Constitution is no longer available to us. That document has been so neutered as to render Rule of Law impotent in our society.
What we as a people lack is the conviction to do WHAT WE KNOW IS RIGHT.
I’m with you on #2: First, do no harm. “Deliberately harming innocents, to help them” doesn’t make sense.
So #3 -- LIVE ! That’s the best we can do with the gift we were given.