J.S.Mill - Comments On Liberty Today

One for Barack

Ok, that is one for the President. I must admit, I had a great deal of concern that he would "wimp out" and not proceed to take the "proper" course of action. He did, and I will say that it is clear he handled the pirate crisis in Somalia precisely the way I would have hoped.

It is clear that this President may have a very liberal, left wing agenda, but he does seem to be able to follow the French example. yes, the French led the way with their action against the pirates, and it is clear that the President saw that as a way to be able to argue  that our aggressive action was in concert with theirs. The fact is, our President did the only thing he could: he empowered the commanders in the field that they had "rules of engagement" that permitted the use of lethal force. I am pleased, and my focus on conservative values will never cloud my vision when I can agree with the actions of the President.

The President Bows

I know, the Democrats want to say this issue is petty, but the mistake he made was really unfortunate. There are many on the right who believe that President Obama is a Muslim. Yes, many have that view, and they look for every opportunity to show that he is a willing and compliant in supporting Muslims. Yes, his TV appearance on Al Jazerra, his interest in having a "dialogue with Iran" and worst, his refusal to call the war on terror a war on terror all lead the doubters to think he is at least soft on the Islamic radicals.

I for one, think that his mistake was much more a blunder of incompetence as a world leader. He reads from teleprompters and pontificates to us all about how he is bringing about change, and that change is deeply rooted in his radical change instinct. He may not, as many on the right contend, be a socialist; but it is clear he is a very liberal,almost radical left wing, "change agent." he is a secularist, who wishes to establish the statis as the controlling paradigm in the US. His plan is to increase beyond even FDR's vision of big government. Even LBJ would cringe. This man is truly a dangerous threat to those of us who think that the individual liberty in the constitution is paramount to the survival of the government the founding fathers created. In my view, we must stop this movement, and the only way we can stop it is to fight it the way it fights any counter view. In short, we must fight the liberal fire, with Conservative fire. Those wo believe in the core values of the founders of the country, must continue to argue against the rapid movement being planned by the left.

The Czar Vision of Political Freedom

No doubt those who have read this Blog before had a suspicion that I had a leaning to the right of the political spectrum. I like to think that I am objective, logical and steeped in a deep commitment to intellectual honesty. That said, I clearly do come with core values and key principles that drive my view of the political and economic landscape. It is those core values that are my "logical assumptions" and which focus my thoughts, arguments and political viewpoints.

A quick recap of those core principles would be easily accomplished by a read of John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith and Milton Friedman. Absent the time, or patience,to read those thinkers, A few of core values effectively set the stage for my thinking:

1) Individual Liberty is a paramount and preeminent value
2) Government exists to protect the liberty and safety of the individuals in society
3) The individual knows what is best for him/her.
4) Individuals, acting in their own self interest, increase innovation and wealth in a society through competition
5) Laws in the society, and government, must protect other individuals in the society from harm by other individuals, but only if those acts actually cause harm.
6) Adam Smith was correct about the power of the "invisible hand" and was also correct that at times "collusion" by owners of the factors of production must be stopped from undue influence.
7) Increasing wealth in the society ultimately increases the wealth of all.
8) Most attempts by a government or society to "help the weak in the society" invariably weaken the weak. Often, those helped, become dependent on the society help, and are unable to break from the pattern of weakness.
9) Societies and governments must eventually recognize that economics of the allocation of scarce resources to competing ends, hence scarcity defines value, not arbitrary government fiat.
10) The money supply and the real economy define economic stability and growth, not government spending and fiat money. Government does not create jobs, it steals jobs from the private sector by taking revenue from the private sector and reallocating private capital through taxes.

These principles define my core, and they also make it clear that I have a vision that supports political structure that minimizes government, maximizes the individual and encourages individual achievement. That is my Vision, and candidly, from what I can tell it is dramatically at odds with where President Obama is trying to take our society. Hence, you can be certain that I will probably conclude that most of his policies are wrong headed and will eventually take the country in a direction that is repugnant to me.