I had the privilege of attending a Mises Circle program in Colorado Springs this weekend and listening to several excellent presentation as well as talking to many people who came in support of limited Government, free markets and Individual Liberty.
One of the speakers was Yuri Maltsev, a former economist in the Soviet Union who came to the United States in 1989. Mr Maltsev spoke of the history of Socialism from Marx to Obama and particularly the role of violence in the Soviet Government which resulted in somewhere between 40 to 60 million deaths. However as was pointed out by Mr Gorbachev, most of these were from natural causes not execution. In this case I suppose, the State considers those in the Gulag who died of starvation, disease, sickness, or the cold just didn’t take care of themselves..
Mr Yaltsev went on to discuss how much the United States has changed in the twenty years he has been here. How year after year he sees the hand of the State seize more and more power over the markets and people’s lives. He believes that people must soon stand up to these infringements or become serfs of the State.
So it was for most of the speakers, all very correctly calling out the always-growing infringements of Government and the State upon Life, Liberty, Property and the Happiness of the Individual. All believing we can reverse this trend and move back to a better time.
This is where I must disagree with them. The US Government as it exists today will never be rolled back. Government cannot be returned to the role envisioned in the Constitution or the hearts of those who founded the nation. This is true whether we talk of Government in the United State, China, Russia, or anywhere else. There are far too many people who love the current structure and benefits, far too much money and Power at stake to allow a return to limited Government.
To return to Individual Liberty and Freedom from the oppression of Government there must be a new American Revolution. The People of this country must rise up and take down the current Government of the United States and replace it – it cannot be fixed – its flaws are too deep.
Like the original American Revolution, the new Revolution must be a Revolution of Ideas based upon the concepts defined during the founding of this nation. Like the first American Revolution it will recognize the Individual as the source of all legitimate Power. It will recognize that the use of Force and Coercion for any purpose other than self defense is unlawful. Thus unlike the first Revolution, the second American Revolution will not use the force of arms to take down Government – however, be certain it will be taken down.
How will it be taken down and what will take its place? Those questions will be the focus of this website. Briefly though I envision that once again the States must lead and therefore the Revolution must start there. Second, history shows clearly that modern Government is as tyrannical, violent, and hateful of the Individual as the Kings and overlords of every past age. Therefore, Government controlled by a few must be replaced. In fact we should never use the term Government again – it speaks of control, force and coercion that has no place in human affairs.
Let’s no longer pretend we can fix or amend the Government of the United States. It is time to begin anew. The Second American Revolution has begun.