In My Right Mind

"We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking." - Mark Twain

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Location: Universal City, Texas, United States

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take away everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson

Friday, July 31, 2009

I Have Decided To Be A Liberal

That's right. You heard me correctly. I am no longer a conservative, I am from this day forward, a liberal. Liberalism is the political ideology that best describes my political views. I thought for a long time that Conservatism was the camp that I best fit in but, I have recently discovered that "liberal" is a better political ideological label for me.

For those who know me, or those who have read my blog, you might be scratching your head right now wondering what could have caused me to change from right wing conservativism to liberalism. Obviously, I some explaining to do.

Perhaps it would be better to start by stating that I am a "Classical Liberal". That wasn't what people who hold to this political view were called originally but, it seems that the progressive/socialists from the left have been allowed to highjack the term "liberal" and use it as the moniker for their political ideaology. After all, it takes guts to admit that one is a socialist or a communist. It sounds so much more pleasant to use the term "liberal". Ok. So be it. It's not right, but it is what it is. Besides, for me, the addition of the term "classical" isn't that bad of a thing.

But some might ask, what is the "Classical Liberal" position? Simply put, it the political views of this nation's Founding Fathers: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison etc. Suffice to say, that if the Democrat-Republican Party ever resurfaced, I would be a registered member in a heart beat!

Like Thomas Jefferson, and the rest of the Founding Fathers, I believe:

1. That the peoples' right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights given by Nature's God and not by any government.

Progressive leftists sacrifice the individual's rights to the collective and try to subvert these rights under the power of the government to assign. This is nothing more than tyranny dressed up to falsely look like compassion and concern for "every one". Hillary Clinton's famous line: "It takes a village..." is an example of this nonsense.

2. Government is a necessary evil. The best government is the one that governs least. The Federal Government should be small in scope and power, restricted to only those roles spelled out for it by The Constitution.

The modern American Federal Government is unconstitutional in its size and scope.

3. I believe in The States' rights.

Beginning with The Civil War, The Constitution's original recognition of The States' rights has been slowly but surely been usurped. We have Abraham Lincoln to thank for that with his new definition of The Republic.

4. I believe in the individual's responsibility for their own welfare.

With the exception of those citizens who are truely disabled, all are responsible for their lot in life. It is not right to take money from the hard labor of other citizen's and redistribute to those unwilling to work and sacrifice hard enough to raise themselves up economically. Also, it would be wise to pay heed to President Gerald Ford's admonishment that: "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take away everything you have."

5. The belief that the nation's money should be backed by a tangible treasure like gold.

This does two things: First, it makes money have a real tangible worth rather than a nefarious, Stock Market's ever changing value. Second, it would limit the government's ability to waste it and run into such great, irresponsible debt. Oh, and while we are on the topic of national debt, I agree with Thomas Jefferson that it is a sin for one generation to pass it's debt onto the following generation. Which, is what we are now guilty of thanks to George W. Bush's original TARP and Barack Obama's continuation of it and beyond.

6. Belief in free market captialism.

America would never have become the technological innovator that it is without comptetion on the open market. Captialism takes negative traits such as greed, and tempers it with competition in the market place, effectively necessatating innovative genius.

7. Belief in free trade with other nations but no entanglement in foreign alliances or wars unless there is no other way to protect our nation's direct safety and sovereignty.

Just a simple look at Western Europe's jealousy and hatred for this nation demonstrates that our brave men and womens' actions in WWI and WWII in rescuing them from tyranny, by their blood and sacrifice of life has not been appreciated. I'm not trying to degrade what these American heroes did, but what have we gained by it?

8. This Constitutional Republic hinges on the participation of it's citizens in religion and morality.

If the people continue down the irreligious, moral relative, corrupt, debacherous immoral path that is has been sliding down for quite some time, this nation will collapse into ruin. History provides examples of this, most notably the Fall of The Roman Empire. But it is not the place of the Federal Government to dictate religion or morality. That would be a deceptive back door into tyranny. As a lover of liberty, I am unwilling to pursure or support any paths that might lead eventually back to tyranny.

Obviously, this post isn't meant to capture all of what entails the "Classical Liberal" position. You can learn more on the Internet and local library about this political idealogy.

It is my strong belief that our nation has lost its way. Our Founding Fathers gave us the best form of government man has ever known to preserve our liberty. But, we have failed them. Look at both of the controlling political parties: The Republican and Democrat parties. In many respects, they are both really just the same. They both lobby and work towards a more bloated Federal Government. They just have different agendas for this ever growing giant Federal Government.

I am through wasting my vote on the Republican Party. I am re-registering as an Independant. I will from now on, cast my vote for the candidates at the Federal, State and Local level of government who sound more like Thomas Jefferson than, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, George W. Bush, and John McCain.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Lori said...

EXCELLENT post! you've got a great blog, Clay. I think I'm a classical liberal, too. :)

6:36 PM  
Blogger Clay said...

Welcome aboard my friend!

6:47 PM  

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