The words of the Declaration of Independence continue to inspire after more than two centuries. It's words and principles inspire the tea party movement and I believe is a source of discomfort to those on the left, even if they won't admit it.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
I continue to be optimistic for our country. The institutions being built by the left cannot endure in competition with the institutions built by free markets and civil society. I will blog more about their successive failures; but consider the disaster the left is making of our health-care system and the implosion of so-called liberal arts as the worth of those degrees continues to be revealed. In the early 1980s, I came to believe that it was only a matter of time before the Soviet Union collapsed due to economic and ethnic forces; and that belief was rewarded. I believe the same thing about the left and its attempts to control every aspect of American life. People resent it, and eventually fight back and win.
The militarization of the nation's police forces is harmful to liberty, see a great compendium at AlterNet. (H/T CarpeDiem). The founders would be appalled, no doubt.
I always thought that it was in our long term best interests to divide into three countries; our failure to do so has enabled further Sunni radicalization under ISIS. See commentary from Israel in Haaretz on this subject. Washington's warning against foreign adventures accrued precisely to our inability to understand the roots of these foreign conflicts. The situation remains fluid, but I expect ISIS to consolidate gains and unite portions of Syria and Iraq, see HotAir.
The Volokh Conspiracy for nuanced understanding of Constitutional law from a conservative/libertarian perspective. Randy Barnett has a great explanation of the Declaration of Independence today. He makes the great point that even then, the founders considered ourselves "a people" who had inalienable rights.
Happy Independence Day. On the 237th anniversary of the founding of our nation, we should reflect on the future direction of the country. The present may seem bleak, but I am very optimistic about the future. Before we examine the future, here are some examples of the current insanity.
The Affordable Care Act has proven to be anything but. Businesses are busy cutting health insurance benefits, young people will have to pay much more and the government's outlays are rising when it is awash in debt. No one, and I mean no one, ever proposed anything like the current law during any campaign for office. The Congress took every flawed feature of the previous system and expanded it, and called it reform.
We live with a system that keeps milk prices high, and prices go even higher, if Congress doesn't set price floors for dairy farmers.
Those who believe that Carbon emissions cause global warming are unwilling to use the simplest method to reduce emissions, a carbon tax, instead heaping new regulations on industry of dubious effectiveness.
Sequestration has done nothing to change the long term budget outlook of the U.S., yet it is pilloried as draconian. According to the CBO, "Under Current Law, Federal Debt Will Stay at Historically High Levels Relative to GDP."
So why the optimism? First, I think that this insanity is doomed to collapse. We are already seeing the ACA start to unravel with yesterday's announcement of the delay in business penalties for failure to comply, which begs the question of the government's willingness to force individuals to comply.
Second, we are catching a lucky break because there are no serious global competitors to our economic supremacy right now. China's state sponsored capitalism is proving unsustainable. The Europeans are, well, European, awash in fresh crises every few months. India isn't yet ready to grow, even if they are the chief long term rival.
Third, I have faith in the freedom loving DNA of our people. Eventually we figure things out and we are figuring out that big government, big labor and big business are bad for freedom; especially in combination. We are slowly, but effectively, fighting back.
James Bennett and Michael Lotus have written a book about their own optimism called "America 3.0." I am not particularly enamored with the title, but it is a convenient short hand for the idea that we are entering a new epoch. The America 2.0 of big government and mass production is giving way to new modes of economic development and delivery. The old system is collapsing due to its complexity and internal contradictions. A new system has yet to arise, but it should value liberty for the individual, if it is to succeed. Perhaps more on that in a future post.
Stuff You Should Be Reading
You should be reading the Burning Platform blog because the federal government doesn't want me to read it. Jim Quinn of Burning Platform had posted a decent article about hatred for Obama in Egypt on Zero Hedge so I thought to look them up and here is what I got:
Arguing for freedom is somehow suspicious? I think it is their full throated defense of Snowden that is the real reason for getting blocked. (I deleted the full name of my B-Daddy log in, other than that, the picture is a replica of what I got.) No, I did not submit the unblock request.
I want to wish everyone a great 4th of July. We've got some great weather for the weekend here in San Diego, for my out of town readers. I previously expressed my thoughts on our past and future. We are looking forward to great fireworks if the EPA or coastal commission doesn't shut us down. Hopefully, this will be the view, filled with right wing patriotism no doubt.
This 4th of July weekend it is appropriate to take stock of the future of our nation, even as we celebrate its founding. Walter Russell Mead has an excellent opinion piece in today's WSJ titled "The Future Belongs to America." He argues that America is uniquely positioned to be the dominant nation of the 21st century. I couldn't agree more. This might surprise some of my readers who have read my analysis on the depths of our problems. They are in fact deep, but many other competitor nations face similar problems. Americans have a history of overcoming every adversity. We were the principle force in the world that defeated slavery, fascism and communism, all of which threatened to halt the spread of global freedom. Each victory took its toll in blood and national treasure, but our ideals, which most accord with the innate God-given spirit that resides in mankind, have prevailed. Further, when faced with a government that has obviously spent too much and made promises it could not keep, America spawned a movement that demanded less, not more government spending; that demanded less, not more government intervention in the economy. Meanwhile, in Europe, proposed cuts have been greeted with mass protests and violence. Our determination to deal with our problems head on, along with our dedication to freedom, including free markets, separates us from the rest of the world.
Mr. Mead's article sizes up the competition and finds it wanting, as well. A summary of his theses.
China is not the threat we believe. Its Asian competitors are strong and rising and have no intention of falling under its hegemony. I would add that I believe India is the Asian nation that has the most promising future. They speak English, are improving their educational system and moving increasingly towards full capitalism.
We have no other real rivals. No one seriously believes the EU will overtake us.
The philosophy of Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood is not a real long term threat. Their lack of belief in real democracy is increasingly opposed in the Arab world.
In Latin America Chavez and Castro are jokes. Chilean and Brazillian moves towards ever greater capitalism and prosperity undermine the appeal of Caudillism.
Scientific and technological driven change continues to accelerate. America is all about change, "it's our home court." I would add that our culture of freedom as well as our deeply rooted democracy enables us to negotiate technological change better than other nations.
Back to the subject of India, I think its success will only be good for the United States. As it renounces its socialist past, as it embraces democracy and as it population is tied together and to the world by the English language, they are a natural ally of the United States. I could eventually see a special relationship in Asia between our two countries, as our interests coincide so closely.
So have a happy 4th of July weekend. Celebrate our country's rich heritage and its founding on principles of freedom that have endured to sweep the world. And be optimistic about our future, because we have so much to be proud of in our past.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
On this Independence Day, it's good to reflect on why our country is so great. If you think otherwise, you've wandered into the wrong blog. John Stossel has a Fox News special by the same title that Mrs. Daddy and I found very uplifting and a reminder to not give up on the great people of this land. As a teaser, I thought I would share the opening segment:
At Church this morning we sang America the Beautiful. I'd like to add the second 3rd stanza as another thing that's great about America:
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife. Who more than self their country loved And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness And every gain divine!
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