In the 1770s, the rugged settlers of a rough-hewn agrarian society, grossly underrated as mere American colonists, launched a unique and unprecedented revolution against the world’s greatest military power.
From these humble beginnings, pockmarked with risk and resistance, grew an uprising of the noblest kind.
Their ensuing shout for freedom was no coincidental gasp of the beleaguered. It was a brilliant declaration of principle. It was founded not on guns and cannon fire, nor bayonets and open fields of slaughter. This revolution was rooted in the simple but eloquent words of Jesus, “… know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
What is this truth that exposes and reveals so much with such liberating strength as to serve the cause to “make you free”? Has truth the fortitude to abolish socialism?
The truth is, the “laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” are at the foundation of all good government. It is a condition of liberty that natural law be honored and sustained, and that the people have a natural affinity and love for “Nature’s God,” God’s laws of justice, and their fellow man.
The truth is, self-mastery is necessary for freedom. It is a condition of liberty that “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom,” because “as nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
The truth is, religion is the most efficient structure to elicit individual self-restraint and selflessness for an orderly and peaceful society. It is a condition of liberty that religion be freely allowed to work its refining influence on the people—without force or compulsion—as the means to prepare leaders and followers with the highest caliber of integrity, honesty, compassion, virtue, and ethics.
The truth is, all people possess unalienable rights that no other has the moral authority to abrogate. It is a condition of liberty that rights be jealously guarded and preserved as the well-spring from which solutions to all problems will emerge.
The truth is, all men are created equal, but that’s all. After birth, the only equality is in the eyes of God, in the eyes of the law, and in the endowment of unalienable rights. It is a condition of liberty that life’s struggles remain unimpeded by government intervention except to rectify violations of moral law.
The truth is, equal things are impossible. The expectation of equal outcomes and material items is the work of envy. Envy doesn’t build or create—it is mortality’s second worst enemy next to death. A condition of liberty is the firm rooting of free choice in all human action within the boundaries of moral law—even the freedom to fail.
The truth is, those who shirk their responsibilities will forever look to the government to take from those who “have” and give it over by force to those who “have not.” It is a condition of liberty that each person acquires a strong work ethic, stands on his or her own feet, prepares for emergencies, and works for their lives.
The truth is, compassion for others and a spirit of service and charity is a condition of liberty. Experience and reason prove that delegating to the government the natural human trait to alleviate suffering will inevitably destroy a nation’s economy. A condition of liberty is leaving the care of the needy in private hands.
The truth is, the government may possess no more rights than those possessed by the individual. A condition of liberty is a strongly worded written constitution binding the government from mischief, and a process of checks and balances to ensure that the government does not stray from those boundaries.
The truth is, international alliances that take private property from the people and lend or gift it to other governments is an unjust theft of private labor. It is a condition of liberty that a nation’s sovereign laws never become subordinate to foreign powers.
The truth is, every person who is blessed with the protection of his or her life, liberty, and property is obligated to carry their portion of the cost for such protection. It is a condition of liberty that taxes taken from the people for these purposes are uniform and are taken from the people at the same rate.
The truth is, private control over public money will profit those private managers and their friends at the taxpayers’ expense, and lead to mismanagement and disaster. It is a condition of liberty that the people themselves manage their national money supply.
The truth is, duties delegated to the central government must be few and defined, while duties for local governments are many and undefined. It is a condition of liberty that prosperity grows from the lowest levels of society upwards—from individual labors, not from government regulation, management, and meddling.
All regimes now standing cannot survive an examination of their behaviors with the light of such truths spotlighting their abuses.
The truth is, being free to choose is the only state of existence that endures—being free to let go of those shiny pieces of government-minted tin and escaping into the vast potential of self-made opportunity is the power of freedom, and it must be protected.