This blog on temporary hold...

Despite my intentions, I've had to ignore the blog for quite awhile now. Yeah, I know -- "the road to hell" and all that jazz.

I'll be done with school very soon. I hope to be licensed and working in my chosen profession by August. Once that happens I plan to post bi-weekly at a minimum. In the meantime, I'll update the "Quote of the Week" often enough to make that part of the blog mostly honest.

Until August...

Back To The Basics...

I’ve spent the last week doing a lot of pondering.

During that time I’ve avoided political conversations, with the exception of some brief chit-chat with my extended family and a couple of friends. My aim was to clear my mind so that I could more easily identify which issues and ideas were of utmost importance at this particular moment in time.

To some degree I also wanted to allow myself enough time to really cool-down regarding the Health Care Reform issue. I was pretty worked-up over that, and didn’t want this blog to be defined by it. Beside, that particular issue is a mere drop in the bucket – little more than the most recent example of our government over-stepping its authority.

But as I tried to pick an appropriate topic to officially kick-off this blog, I found myself at a serious loss. I mean, where do I begin? The system is so out of control already, how do I pick one misguided government policy or program over another? In the end, I realized I couldn’t. And with that realization came the thought that perhaps I was still looking at this thing the wrong way. So, with much effort, I flipped my problem over on its back and took another look from a different perspective. What I found caught me a little by surprise, but it was a welcome discovery.

I needed to start with nothing.

Let me explain. The here-and-now is mostly irrelevant. There is little point in trying to explain the necessity of stopping a runaway train to someone who has no idea what a train even is. In other words, there is no way to identify what government SHOULDN’T BE without first having a firm understanding of what government SHOULD BE.  At that point, with little or no effort, everything else falls neatly into place. Plus, I like allowing the truth to speak for itself because it takes the burden off me. What can I say?  I’m lazy like that.

But despite my laziness, the fact remains: once one has a basic understanding of the what government should be, separating right from wrong becomes easy – almost ridiculously easy. And if you ask me, that’s how it should be.

"Are there not, in reality, underlying, universal principles with reference to which all issues must be resolved whether the society be simple or complex in its mechanical organization? It seems to me we could relieve ourselves of most of the bewilderment which so unsettles and distracts us by subjecting each situation to the simple test of right and wrong. Right and wrong as moral principles do not change. They are applicable and reliable determinants whether the situations with which we deal are simple or complicated. There is always a right and wrong to every question which requires our solution." -- Albert E. Bowen

On that note I begin…

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When America declared its independence from Britain, the slate was wiped clean. There was no national government. Recognizing this, a small group of intelligent and visionary men got together, on behalf of everyone else, and wrote up a little document to bind the states together and establish a national government.

“We the People… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Well, that sounds fine and dandy. But where did they get the authority to do this in the first place? What gives them the right?!?!

Thomas Paine said, "Rights are not gifts from one man to another, nor from one class of men to another... It is impossible to discover any origin of rights otherwise than in the origin of man; it consequently follows that rights appertain to man in right of his existence, and must therefore be equal to every man."

Thanks, Tom. So I have certain rights simply for being alive. I can buy that. It seems a little off-topic, but I suppose I can play along.  What are those rights, precisely?

"Each of us has a natural right … to defend his person, his liberty, and his property. These are the three basic requirements of life, and the preservation of any one of them is completely dependent upon the preservation of the other two. For what are our faculties but the extension of our individuality? And what is property but an extension of our faculties?" -- Frederic Bastiat

So what you’re saying, Fred, is that I have a right to fight back if someone tries to take my life, my freedom, or my property? Fair enough. I like being alive. I like making my own choices. And I like having things that make my life more enjoyable. Naturally I want to protect those things.

Hey, wait a second – that sounds dangerously close to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Okay, despite the connotation, I must admit that I still don’t see the relationship between my rights as an individual and the role of government. Pull this together already, would you?

Bastiat continues: "If every person has the right to defend - even by force - his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights constantly. Thus the principle of collective right – its reason for existing, its lawfulness – is based on individual right."

Okay… so a bunch of us can get together and hire a person or group of people to defend our lives, our freedom and our property for us? That’s cool. I’ll have more free time to spend on that ‘pursuit of happiness’ thing. But you still haven’t answered my question… what does that have to do with gov… ohhhh. I get it now. That is government.

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Is this a simplified explanation of what government is? Most certainly. But who is to say that it needs to be complicated? I submit that to make it more complicated is to bastardize it, to corrupt it, to destroy it.

Government, in its basic, correct and natural configuration, exists for one reason and one reason only: the protection of the individual’s life, liberty and property.

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While I am far from exhausting these concepts, I think perhaps I should end this post here. The basic principles I’ve covered to this point naturally lend themselves to others. But in an effort to keep this blog easily readable and to facilitate discussion, I’ll take me leave now.

Until next time…

In The Beginning...

It is difficult to discuss politics with people, even those who share similar views as your own. It is most challenging, of course, when the other person holds a differing viewpoint, or is altogether ignorant. Unfortunately the latter seems to be the case with so many Americans these days.

Many people I have talked to, both in person and online, seem content to have their head in the sand. This past Monday alone I had three different people flat tell me "I don't care what the government does. It doesn't affect me." ... Seriously? I guess its true what they say -- ignorance is bliss.

To a certain degree, I don't blame them. There is so much confusion surrounding politics and the government. It takes a conscious and deliberate effort to sift through the garbage to get at the real truth. There is no denying that this phenomenon is intentional. When it comes to politics, the more complex and confusing something is, the less apt people will be to make the required effort to understand it. And the less likely they will be to oppose it.

I'm not going to delve into any specific topic with this first post. At this point I simply want to set the tone for this blog. As the summary at the top of this page indicates, there are too many loud and obnoxious voices out there already. I have definitely done my fair share of shouting. But that is not my aim here.

My intention is for something different, something better. I want anyone who reads this blog to enjoy it, no matter what their viewpoint is. Humor, anecdotes, quotes, hard facts, and above all the plain and simple truth will be my tools. My primary goal is not convince, but to entertain, enlighten, and most of all encourage. I want the reader to seek out the truth on their own. I am confident that when someone makes a conscious and concerted effort to find the truth of their own accord, they will be successful. And who knows? At the end of the day perhaps I'll learn something too.

So, here I go...