Freedom matters
Iceland Today, the US Tomorrow? - Ron Paul
TAXATION IS THEFT:
If someone takes your money without your consent, it is theft. If someone takes your money without your consent and calls it taxes, it is still theft. To steal the money that I earned, is to steal my productivity, my time, and my effort. Which is the same as stealing part of my life. To steal part of my life is slavery.
FREEDOM:
Freedom is the ability to exercise your will within your individual rights without the threat of force from anyone else. If somebody is forcing their will on us, clearly, we are not free. Freedom is not just an ideal state of society, but a moral code for respecting the individual rights of others.
Because you own yourself, it is wrong for someone to initiate force against you or your property. Acceptance of this simple fact is the foundation of a free and peaceful society. This nonaggression principle applies to everyone, and it is therefore wrong for someone to harm you, steal from you, threaten you, or violate your individual rights.
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS:
- The right to liberty - I can do what I want, as long as I do not violate the rights of others.
- The right to self-defense - I can defend myself, my property, and my individual rights.
- The right to own and carry weapons - So I have the ability to defend myself, my property, and my rights.
- The right to self-ownership - I own myself. No one can claim even partial ownership over me without violating my freedom.
- The right to free speech - I can communicate my opinions and ideas without fear of government retaliation or censorship.
- The right to privacy - No one has the right to violate my privacy.
A SOCIETY BUILT ON FREEDOM:
A society built on freedom is based on the individual rights that all people have. People can do whatever they want within there rights as long as they do not violate the rights of others. Individual rights are rights your born with and no one can legally take away from you. Any law that violates your rights is null and void. Anyone that violates your rights is a criminal.
LAWS SHOULD NOT VIOLATE OUR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS:
During the war for Independence, Americans overthrew the government for violating our individual rights. If we have the right to do something and the law says you can't do it, we still have the right to do it. We have no moral obligation to obey any law that violates our rights. We have a moral obligation to honor and recognize the individual rights of every human being that lives on this planet. No matter what the law says.
THE REVOLUTION CONTINUES:
In 1776 the Declaration of Independence condemned authoritarian power and empowered the individual. It argued that all people were created equal. That all people have individual rights. That our individual rights can not be taken away from us. That government power came from the consent of the governed. That government could not tax us without our consent. That the main purpose of government was to help secure our individual rights. When government violates our individual rights it becomes our duty to take away the governments right to govern.
But the revolution is not over. As long as some people claim the right to rule and others claim the right to be free, the revolution will continue. Final victory comes when people embrace the principles of true equality, non-aggression, self-ownership, and voluntarism. That is when people will truly be ready to be free.
VOLUNTARISM:
Interactions between people should be voluntary and free of force, fraud, and threats.
- No one has the right to rob me.
- No one has the right to harm me.
- No one has the right to threaten me.
- No one has the right to violate my rights.
LIBERTY IS NOT A BATTLE:
Liberty is not a battle that requires the conversion of others in order to win. Liberty is won when you accept the fact that you own yourself, that you have individual rights, and no one has the right to violate your individual rights. When you accept that you are liberated.
VIOLATION OF FREEDOM:
A violation of freedom is an attack on a person by harming them, stealing from them, threatening them, or violating there individual rights.
PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM:
1 - All people are born free, created equal, and have individual rights.
2 - Interactions between people should be voluntary and free of force, fraud, and threats.
3 - People have the right to self-ownership. Self-ownership means not only that you own yourself, but everyone owns themselves. The best way to ensure respect for our self-ownership is to respect the individual rights of others. Without self-ownership, there is no freedom.
4 - No one can claim even partial ownership over a person without violating there rights. Taxing people without there consent under the threat of force is robbery and is a violation of our rights. Free people get to decide for themselves how there money is spent.
5 - People have the right to carry weapons to defend themselves, there property, and there rights. We never have an obligation to let anyone commit aggression against us. No one has the right to harm you, steal from you, threaten you, or violate your rights.
6 - We have the right to seek leaders for ourselves but we have no right to force rulers on others. No matter how leaders are selected they are only human beings and they have no rights or claims that are higher then those of any other human. No one has the right to murder, enslave, or to steal. We can not give people any rights that we do not have ourselves.
7 - To help secure our individual rights, governments may be created, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter it, abolish it, or withdraw there consent to be governed.
THE FREEDOM SOLUTION:
There are two kinds of people. People who prefer big government (statists) and people who prefer freedom. Statists want government to have a great deal of power over the economy and individual behavior. People who prefer freedom, want to have a great deal of control over there own lives.
We should just let each group live the way they want too. If your a person who prefers freedom then you can have all the freedom you want, as long as you do not violate the rights of others. If your a person who prefers statism then you can have all the government you want, as long as you do not violate the rights of others.
We can do what we want, as long as we do not violate the individual rights of others.
VOTE FOR FREEDOM:
Vote for freedom by not electing anyone to rule and rob you.
People can seek leaders for themselves but they have no right to force rulers on me. No one has the right to violate my freedom.
People can pay taxes if they want but they have no right to force taxes on me. No one has the right to rob me.
I own myself. I can live my life and spend my money as I see fit.
