Dan McLaughlin

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To Home Page Latest Newsletter Column Archives Click to get these columns for your local paper	Post Comments Below © 2007 Daniel J. McLaughlin Beacon Of Hope “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it…” On the Fourth of July we celebrate Independence Day, the founding of a Great Nation. What is that greatness that we celebrate and are so fond of? It isn’t massive, powerful armies or large populations or geographic area. The greatness we celebrate is actually weakened by aspirations for world dominance, increased territory, or the strength of armies. Population size has nothing to do with it. What we celebrate this day is the one thing that sets us apart from every other country in the history of mankind. The Declaration Of Independence did not just declare independence. It set forth the guiding principle which allowed America to flourish and become a beacon for the world. That guiding principle is liberty. It is the respect for the rights of the individual. It is the raising of the individual above the state and above society. It is the recognition that every person has rights that cannot be taken away, no matter who or how many would benefit from taking them. Over the course of American history there have been many attacks on that liberty. It is remarkable that there has never been a serious threat from the outside. The real threats to liberty have always come from within. Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis has been famously quoted as saying “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasions of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” That was written nearly 80 years ago, but the wisdom is timeless. There have been, and continue to be, vigorous attacks on our liberty by men and women of great zeal in our own government. Whether they mean well can be debated. That they are encroaching in our liberty should be apparent to everyone. Freedom is a precious gift that radiates its benefits to all. We tend to give that gift little thought as we go about our daily lives because we benefit from it whether we think about it or not. It hasn’t always been that way, and will not necessarily be that way in the future unless that freedom is jealously guarded from men and women of little understanding, who look at themselves as chess players manipulating their pawns, or as omnipotent gods who require our submission because they know what is best. George Washington, our first president, gave the following warning: “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence. It is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and fearful master.” Government is the primary danger to freedom, and the bigger and more powerful, the more dangerous it is. Of the 78,000 pages of federal laws that are written into the books each year, you will look in vain for one that reinforces liberty as the law. The purpose of the multitude of regulations is to benefit some interest group at the expense of another, to enable legal theft from one person to give to another. They restrict the rights of citizens and empower bureaucrats. They re-impose shackles like those of Imperial Britain that the declaration of independence was designed to break. Freedom is still the vision of Americans. The further our leaders stray from that vision, at home and in dealing with other countries, the less credibility that vision carries with nations struggling for freedom. Democracy is a false hope, and making the world safe for democracy without laying the groundwork of freedom and government restraint is setting a trap for people the world over. Liberty is the bright beacon of hope for the poor and oppressed of the world. America is the best hope for that vision to bear fruit in other lands, but it can never be done through force. We can only lead the way by shining the light and letting others follow as they look for a better tomorrow.
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Daniel Mclaughlin Copyright © 2006 [Daniel McLaughlin]. All rights reserved. Revised: 01/06/08

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Beacon Of Hope

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it…”

On the Fourth of July we celebrate Independence Day, the founding of a Great Nation. What is that greatness that we celebrate and are so fond of? It isn’t massive, powerful armies or large populations or geographic area. The greatness we celebrate is actually weakened by aspirations for world dominance, increased territory, or the strength of armies. Population size has nothing to do with it.

What we celebrate this day is the one thing that sets us apart from every other country in the history of mankind. The Declaration Of Independence did not just declare independence. It set forth the guiding principle which allowed America to flourish and become a beacon for the world. That guiding principle is liberty. It is the respect for the rights of the individual. It is the raising of the individual above the state and above society. It is the recognition that every person has rights that cannot be taken away, no matter who or how many would benefit from taking them.

Over the course of American history there have been many attacks on that liberty. It is remarkable that there has never been a serious threat from the outside. The real threats to liberty have always come from within. Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis has been famously quoted as saying “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasions of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”

That was written nearly 80 years ago, but the wisdom is timeless. There have been, and continue to be, vigorous attacks on our liberty by men and women of great zeal in our own government. Whether they mean well can be debated. That they are encroaching in our liberty should be apparent to everyone.

Freedom is a precious gift that radiates its benefits to all. We tend to give that gift little thought as we go about our daily lives because we benefit from it whether we think about it or not. It hasn’t always been that way, and will not necessarily be that way in the future unless that freedom is jealously guarded from men and women of little understanding, who look at themselves as chess players manipulating their pawns, or as omnipotent gods who require our submission because they know what is best.

George Washington, our first president, gave the following warning: “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence. It is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and fearful master.” Government is the primary danger to freedom, and the bigger and more powerful, the more dangerous it is. Of the 78,000 pages of federal laws that are written into the books each year, you will look in vain for one that reinforces liberty as the law. The purpose of the multitude of regulations is to benefit some interest group at the expense of another, to enable legal theft from one person to give to another. They restrict the rights of citizens and empower bureaucrats. They re-impose shackles like those of Imperial Britain that the declaration of independence was designed to break.

Freedom is still the vision of Americans. The further our leaders stray from that vision, at home and in dealing with other countries, the less credibility that vision carries with nations struggling for freedom. Democracy is a false hope, and making the world safe for democracy without laying the groundwork of freedom and government restraint is setting a trap for people the world over.

Liberty is the bright beacon of hope for the poor and oppressed of the world. America is the best hope for that vision to bear fruit in other lands, but it can never be done through force. We can only lead the way by shining the light and letting others follow as they look for a better tomorrow.