Freedom is “The Road Less Traveled”
Barbara Moore
As we’re rapidly approaching this monumental election of 2008, it would be appropriate to examine the two diverging paths before us. George Washington clearly directed us, saying, “Let us have a government by which our lives, liberties, and properties will be secured.” John Adams added his convictions, stating, “All men are born free and independent, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing and protecting property.” Thomas Jefferson wrote, “A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” The Father of the Constitution, James Madison said, “The protection of private property is the first object of
government.”
These illustrious past presidents of the United States of America well understood that a tax by the government on one’s income is wrong. They knew that taxes that increase as income increases punishes achievement and hard work, not to mention being very unfair and discriminatory against successful citizens. The founders created a government to protect the freedom of all Americans to pursue their dreams, prosper and succeed. The Constitution they designed did not permit an income tax, nor a graduated income tax, which violates every principle of equality, fairness, privacy and common sense. Americans were protected from this legalized invasion of their privacy and theft of their property until the 16th amendment was passed in 1913 by the progressive socialists who promoted redistribution of the wealth or “spreading the wealth around”, by taking money from those who work and earn it and giving it to those who don’t.
There are two very different ways of looking at wealth:
1. Wealth is unlimited. It can be created by individuals because they are “fearfully and wonderfully” made by their Creator in His image. Creativity, genius, hard work and resourcefulness with the God-placed resources of the earth can be used to invent and produce desirable goods and services in voluntary exchange for desirable goods and services invented and produced by others. Protection of private property is important to God and His people, as two of the Ten Commandments address it: “Thou shalt not steal,” and “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.”
2. Wealth is limited so it must be divided among the people on the earth. It must be taken away from the ones who possess it and shared with those who don’t. Force is used by the government to take from the rich and give to the poor. The government divides the people into “classes” with labeling the “haves” from the “have nots.” Incitement of envy and jealousy is provoked by the promises of the politicians to “soak the rich” and make things better for the “common man.”
In the Bible we see that envy, jealousy and coveting what belongs to other people is sinful. It says that those who will not work, shall not eat; that those who do not take care of their own families are worse than infidels. It is wrong to sow discord among the brethren.
Abraham Lincoln, known as “The Great Emancipator,” spoke pointedly to these differences: “You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
“America’s abundance was created not by public sacrifices to “the common good,” but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America’s industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance – and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way,” wrote author Ayn Rand.
John F. Kennedy said, “The road to progress is freedom.” Not many countries in the world have chosen this less traveled road. It requires a knowledgeable and moral, virtuous citizenry. But for those of us who have experienced the exquisite joy that such a land of hope and opportunity affords, taking this less traveled road of freedom has made all the difference.