Our Founding Principle
Written by Travis Maddox.
For us to see a resurgence of Liberty and Freedom in America today I believe we must find our way back to our roots, not roots in a particular political party or the roots of conservatism or libertarianism but back to the roots of Liberty. Our Founders did this when they took on the endeavor to establish a more perfect Union. We must understand what Liberty is and where it comes from.
Our Founders believed that we are endowed by our Creator certain unalienable rights, that man was a free being. Free to work, think and choose for himself or herself. They believed man only answered to God. The belief was that these unalienable rights were “untouchable” or “incapable of being alienated, that is, sold and transferred” as Black’s Law Dictionary puts it. In other words man nor government could take them away. Our Founders were well educated and well read and understood Liberty and where it came from.
Today conservative/constitutional/libertarians understand Liberty but only as it pertains to their agenda. We are divided and only focus on our “pet projects”. Life, guns, sovereignty, drugs, the FED and many others are very important issues to fight for but if we do not know where the foundation of those and other issues are rooted in we might continue to fail.
Our founders knew this and that is why many of them looked upon the issues they faced through the eyes of individual liberty. Man is free regardless of his physical state, his mind, body and spirit were created free and only answerable to his creator and himself. Many Founders knew that the only way for man to prosper, create and develop true growth as a being was to be completely free. So one might ask if this is true then why create a government at all? Our Founders feared that complete anarchy would turn to tyranny. It is easy for man to become corrupt when there is no protection for our rights, the strongest or the one with the most guns, rules.
So their task was simple yet difficult. Create a system where man is free to worship, live, create, build and prosper but with only enough government to protect those rights. You see our Founders knew that the only true responsibility of a government was to protect a person’s individual rights. Everything they did was weighed against that principle. Were they always right? No. We are imperfect and imperfect being’s create imperfect things. That is the reason though behind the Constitution being the supreme law of the land. They knew with the Constitution there would always be a foundation to fall back on.
So where have we gone wrong today in our fight for freedom? Today we focus on our pet projects and some of us have several. We fight these issues most of the time autonomous of other organizations or parties and most always with good intentions. Our flaw in all of this is many of us have forgotten our founding principles; that man is free and governments only responsibility is to protect that freedom, all other actions a government may do treads on that freedom.
I hear all the time that we need to go back to the Regan or Goldwater days or go back to the roots of conservatism or even back to the Founders. While all that talk may be good it is still in vain because it does not go deep to our founding principle. It will only take us back to a flawed man. What is that founding principle? LIBERTY!
Now I know by now I have stepped on a few toes but maybe that is a good thing. You can still fight for the issues that are important to you just remember where the principles of that battle are founded. Man is free and governments only job is to protect that freedom. Now with that point of view things become clear as we debate certain issues. Do we have a right to live? A right to protect our lives? Yes. Then governments only job is to protect that right. How about to own property and be secure in it? What would the government’s job be? And to defend our lives and property? You see when we view these and other issues through our founding principles the answers to what government’s role is, is easy. Our Founders even acknowledged that government’s job is to protect the right of the individual to overthrow and change the said government when it becomes too far reaching.
Now ask yourself how many things does our government do that does not protect mans right to be free? If whatever action a government is doing does not protect the Liberty of man to be free then we must fight against those actions and maybe against the government committing those actions, it is our duty.
Today our government has become the antithesis of our founding principle. Everything they do these days works against individual Liberty. I fear we are closing in on the day when we must decide to take up our duty and throw off such a government. Until that day comes and while you continue fighting the issues that make you a passionate patriot remember the foundation fighting those battles is mans Liberty and right to be free. Do this and it will strengthen you for the larger battle that may still lie ahead.
