"A person who graduated yesterday and stops studying today is uneducated tomorrow."

True Patriots

"True patriots protect their country from its government." -thomas paine

An excuse for enhancing power...

The government turns every contingency into an excuse for enhancing power in itself.
-John Adams

Times that try men's souls...

These are times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country. But he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of men and women! Tyranny like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation among us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

-thomas paine

May your chains set lightly...

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
-Samuel Adams

Brush Fires

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds
-Samuel Adams

Thinking

When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.
-Thomas Paine

Political Questions

NORMALLY THE GREAT POLITICAL QUESTIONS TAKE THEIR PLACE IN THE PSYCHIC ECONOMY OF THE TYPICAL CITIZEN WITH THOSE LEISURE-HOUR INTERESTS THAT HAVE NOT ATTAINED THE RANK OF HOBBIES, AND WITH THE SUBJECTS OF IRRESPONSIBLE CONVERSATION.

THESE THINGS SEEM SO FOR OFF; THEY ARE NOT AT ALL LIKE A BUSINESS PROPOSITION; DANGERS MAY NOT MATERIALIZE AT ALL AND IF THEY SHOULD THEY MAY NOT PROVE SO VERY SERIOUS; ONE FEELS ONESELF TO BE MOVING IN A FICTICIOUS WORLD....

WITHOUT THE INTITIATIVE THAT COMES FROM IMMEDIATE RESPONSIBILITY, IGNORANCE WILL PERSIST IN THE FACE OF MASSES OF INFORMATION HOWEVER COMPLETE AND CORRECT. THUS THE TYPICAL CITIZEN DROPS DOWN TO A LOWER LEVEL OF MENTAL PERFORMANCE AS SOON AS HE ENTERS THE POLITICAL FIELD.

HE ARGUES AND ANALYZES IN A WAY WHICH HE WOULD READILY RECOGNIZE AS INFANTILE WITHIN THE SPHERE OF HIS REAL INTERESTS.

-JOSEPH SCHUMPETER Political Economist

Truth

"Truth is incontrovertible. Ignorance can deride it; panic may resent it; malice may destroy it, but in the end - there it is." - Winston Churchill

THE CREED OF FREEDOM

INTRINSIC NATURE OF RIGHTS I believe that only individuals have rights, not the collective group; that these rights are intrinsic to each individual, not granted by the state; for if the state has the power to grant them, it also has the power to deny them, and that is incompatible with personal liberty. I believe that a just government derives its power solely from the governed. Therefore, the state must never presume to do anything beyond what individual citizens also have the right to do. Otherwise, the state is a power unto itself and becomes the master instead of the servant of society.

SUPREMACY OF THE INDIVIDUAL I believe that one of the greatest threats to freedom is to allow any group, no matter its numeric superiority, to deny the rights of the minority; and that one of the primary functions of just government is to protect each individual from the greed and passion of the majority.

FREEDOM-OF-CHOICE I believe that desirable social and economic objectives are better achieved by voluntary action than by coercion of law. I believe that social tranquility and brotherhood are better achieved by tolerance, persuasion, and the power of good example than by coercion of law. I believe that those in need are better served by charity, which is the giving of one's own money, than by welfare, which is the giving of other people's money through coercion of law.

EQUALITY UNDER LAW I believe that all citizens should be equal under law, regardless of their national origin, race, religion, gender, education, economic status, life style, or political opinion. Likewise, no class should be given preferential treatment, regardless of the merit or popularity of its cause. To favor one class over another is not equality under law.

PROPER ROLE OF GOVERNMENT I believe that the proper role of government is negative, not positive; defensive, not aggressive. It is to protect, not to provide; for if the state is granted the power to provide for some, it must also be able to take from others, and once that power is granted, there are those who will seek it for their advantage. It always leads to legalized plunder and loss of freedom. If government is powerful enough to give us everything we want, it is also powerful enough to take from us everything we have. Therefore, the proper function of government is to protect the lives, liberty, and property of its citizens; nothing more. That government is best which governs least.

What I Want For Our Country

I want for our country enough laws to restrain me from injuring others, so that these laws will also restrain others from injuring me. I want enough government, with enough constitutional safeguards, so that this necessary minimum of laws will be applied equitably to everybody, and will be binding on the rulers as well as those ruled. Beyond that I want neither laws nor government to be imposed on our people as a means or with the excuse of protecting us from catching cold, or of seeing that we raise the right kind of crops, or of forcing us to live in the right kind of houses or neighborhoods,or of compelling us to save money or to spend it, or of telling us when or whether we can pray. I do not want government or laws designed for any other form of welfarism or paternalism, based on the premise that government knows best and can run our lives better than we can run them ourselves. And my concept of freedom, and of its overwhelming importance, is implicit in these aspirations and ideals. -Robt. Welch