Politics, Government & Public Policy: July 2012 Archives
Obama truly does not know how our economy works. Said President Obama:
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business -- you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
This kind of philosophy completely undermines the concepts or hard work, individual merit, and private property. Plus, the internet was created to support national security in the event of a nuclear war, not so that companies could make money.
(HT: Ed Driscoll
In celebration of Independence Day Randy Barnett has posted an annotated Declaration of Independence. It is humbling to recognize that the signatories were condemning themselves to death as traitors if their cause was lost.
The assumption of natural rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence can be summed up by the following proposition: "first comes rights, then comes government." According to this view: (1) the rights of individuals do not originate with any government, but preexist its formation; (2) The protection of these rights is the first duty of government; and (3) Even after government is formed, these rights provide a standard by which its performance is measured and, in extreme cases, its systemic failure to protect rights -- or its systematice violation of rights -- can justify its alteration or abolition; (4) At least some of these rights are so fundamental that they are "inalienable," meaning they are so intimately connected to one's nature as a human being that they cannot be transferred to another even if one consents to do so. This is powerful stuff.
We are very blessed to live in such a wonderful country with institutions that generally respect our natural rights.
