I Am

Theologians, scholars, lawyers and politicians, armed with words, do battle with foes and dragons, like human gnats flitting about God's shoulders.  In their wake, truth, justice, honor lie trampled beneath their vain, lofty dreams and schemes.

Descartes was wrong when he observed "I think, therefore I am".  It should be "I am, and I have the ability to think".

I am.  I exist.  I have the right to choose my own path, as long as I don't force others to choose my path.  I have the ability to think, to plan, to decide how I wish to live my life, as long as I accept the consequences of my decisions.  The quality of my thinking determines the quality of my life.

I accept that as part of being human we are all capable of great heroism and honor and we are also all vulnerable to weakness, vanity, and greed.  We are all flawed, and if we grant too much power to individuals, our flaws lead to corruption or worse.

Recently, in Norway, someone convinced himself that it was OK to bomb and shoot innocent Norwegians in order to convince them of the greater good of keeping Muslims out of Europe.

And then there are the radical Muslims who feel it's OK to kill innocent civilians (including Muslims) to reach the greater good of political power and a Caliphate.

Then there were the Crusades, aimed at killing Muslims for the greater good of promoting Christianity.

And there were Statists.  Hitler, Stalin, Mao, the National Socialists, the Communists, all for the greater good of the worker, and responsible for the deaths of millions.

How about kings and dictators?  How many have died under the banner of divine right of kings or dictators?

Over the history of the world, how many times have these governments worked out well for Mankind?  Why would anyone think they will get it right the next time?  The only function they perform well is as a mechanism to transfer power to the very few to control the lives of the many.
  
Only once in the history of Man, has a government been designed to limit the power of government to abuse the individual.  How can a thinking person not see the genius of the founders?  How can a thinking person not see the track record of the other types of governments, regardless of good intentions they pay lip service to?

A government that promises to do everything for you WILL reach the point of taking everything from you, but will NEVER get to the point of doing everything for you.  There is never enough to deliver what politicians will promise, in their search for power and control.

Kings, dictators, Theocracies, Socialism, Communism all fail eventually because there are no perfect people to staff their governments.  If only the people living under these governments did not suffer so terribly, waiting for the government to fall would not be a problem...and, even when it falls, it may be replaced by an equally repugnant government.

Only a limited central government can curb the appetite of its despots and bureaucracies, and prevent them from feeding on its citizens.

Growing up in the United States has been a rare, rare privilege in a world that has historically been been a venue of repression, fear, violence and destruction on a scale that most Americans can not even imagine.  Even today, the worst of our problems are far better than those that are faced by millions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.    

Never give up your freedom for a false security...the utopia promised by despots and "isms" is meaningless and empty, serving only to deliver you into dependance on them.  What they give is far less than what they take.