Liberty vs. Government Fairy Tales

By Chris Rossini

Donald Trump, as we all know, is the champ when it comes to talking about himself. It's "I"..."I"..."I"..."I" all the time. 

Well, it appears Ben Carson is getting in on that action as well. Carson says:

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"When I was appointed director of pediatric neurosurgery, pediatric neurosurgery at [Johns] Hopkins wasn’t on the map. By 2008, it was ranked number one by U.S. News & World Report. A weak person doesn’t do that. A weak person isn’t named one of 89 living legends by the Library of Congress on the occasion of its 200th anniversary. A weak person isn’t selected by CNN and Time magazine as one of the 20 foremost physicians and surgeons in America. That was before they discovered that I’m conservative. A weak person doesn’t have all of these honorary degrees. Most people of accomplishment have one, maybe two or three honorary degrees at most. It’s the highest award that a university gives out. I have 67. That’s probably not indicative of a weak person who doesn’t get things done."

None of this matters when it comes to respecting the ideas of liberty and peace. Would Carson follow the U.S. Constitution or not? It's pretty simple. Unfortunately, for a good 200+ years of American history, the answer from every president has been "no".

Politicians, of course, are not interested in liberty, but in their imagined authority. They seek power to live out their delusions of grandeur. But the truth has not changed. No one can micromanage an economy. It doesn't matter how many billions he's made. No one can rule the world with a military empire, no matter how many honorary degrees he has.

Politicians, if they really wanted to move humanity forward, would make frequent use of the word "You" instead of "I".

They would say to Americans: You were born free. You are the sole owner of your mind and body. You may choose whatever path makes you happy, so long as you respect the life and property of your neighbor. You have a right to keep the fruits of your labors. You have a right to defend yourself from aggression.

They would also cover the other side of the ledger: You have no right to aggress against your neighbor. You have no right to your neighbor's property. Your neighbor, like you, was also born free.

No delusions of grandeur. No fairy tales of "running the economy" or "bringing freedom to the world" with tanks and fighter jets.

A society based on the ideas of liberty would have little concern for the accolades of politicians. In fact, people would have very little concern for politicians at all. That's how early American society operated (for the most part). Presidents were not the Caesars that they are today. In fact, until the fateful year of 1913, the average American had very little interaction with the federal government at all. 

A rebirth for the ideas of liberty are definitely in order.
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