Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Statism vs. Liberty

I've just begun to read Mark Levin's "Liberty and Tyranny," which is selling very well in Maine.

I'm only 3 chapters into it, but I am impressed with how clearly Levin delineates the basics of our founding and their underpinning, and how they are being discarded in a headlong rush to statism and "heaven on earth," sponsored by big government.

In particular, I want to pass along this quote from Barry Goldwater's 1964 nomination acceptance speech:

"those who elevate the state and downgrade the citizen must see ultimately a world in which earthly power can be substituted for Divine Will, and this nation was founded upon the rejection of that notion and upon the acceptance of God as the author of freedom.

I'll date myself: the Goldwater election was the first in which I voted. Some years later I was fortunate enough to meet the man and have my picture taken with him when he toured my Company's exhibit at the Paris Air Show, which is an incredible event in itself, orders of magnitude beyond anything done in the US.

To construe the quote as simply the words of a religious zealot is to completely miss the point.

The quote ends the chapter that discusses very clearly the concept of the "unalienable rights" of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and how they flow from the Founder's incredible grasp of natural law and their understanding that these rights are bestowed by "their Creator."

Today we find assaults from many directions on this pure and exceptional declaration. It is time for all to re-educate themselves on the core principles that created America, so as to fully comprehend them, and to clearly recognize the stake being driven through the heart of such principles.

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