The Business Success & Liberty Blog

It’s Constitution Day!

The United States Constitution is the greatest single document struck off by the hand and mind of man. I will proceed with some words about the Constitution by a former US Secretary of Agriculture who understood the proper role of government and the Constitution as the Founders intended it.

To understand the significance of the Constitution, we must first understand some basic, eternal principles. These principles have their beginning in the premortal councils of heaven.

The Principle of Agency

The first basic principle is agency…

…Look back in retrospect on almost six thousand years of human history! Freedom’s moments have been infrequent and exceptional. We must appreciate that we live in one of history’s most exceptional moments–in a nation and a time of unprecedented freedom. Freedom as we know it has been experienced by perhaps less than one percent of the human family.

The Proper Role of Government

The second basic principle concerns the function and proper role of government. These are the principles that, in my opinion, proclaim the proper role of government in the domestic affairs of the nation.

…governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them…

[The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner by Ezra Taft Benson, former US Secretary of Agriculture.]

Today the Constitution is often ignored by most politicians and most people.  Almost all of us have heard of the Constitution, some have read it, and even fewer understand it in relation to the original intent of the Founding Fathers.

The Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution are two important documents that are repsponsible for the extent of freedom that we have enjoyed in the 200+ years since their creation.

But what meaning do these documents have if very few understand them? It’s not just the writing of these documents that made the United Stated free and independent, it’s the fact that enough people believed in liberty and did something about it.

Happy Constitution Day!

If you haven’t read the Constitution lately I highly recommend it. Get a free pocket constitution from the Heritage Foundation.

Tags: constitution, Founding Fathers, freedom, liberty

28 Principles of Liberty

The 28 Great Ideas That Are Changing the World, by W. Cleon Skousen.

1. The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law.
2. A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.
3. The most promising method of securing a virtuous and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders.
4. Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.
5. All things were created by God, therefore upon Him all mankind are equally dependent, and to Him they are equally responsible.
6. All men are created equal.
7. The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.
8. Men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.
9. To protect man’s rights, God has revealed certain principles of divine law.
10. The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.
11. The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government that has become tyrannical.
12. The United States of America shall be a republic.
13. A constitution should be structured to permanently protect the people from the human frailties of their rulers.
14. Life and liberty are secure only so long as the right of property is secure.
15. The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations.
16. The government should be separated into three branches – legislative, executive, and judicial.
17. A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power.
18. The unalienable rights of people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written constitution.
19. Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained in the people.
20. Efficiency and dispatch require government to operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the right of the minority.
21. Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.
22. A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.
23. A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.
24. A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.
25. “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations – entangling alliances with none.”
26. The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore, the government should foster and protect its integrity.
27. The burden of debt is as destructive to freedom as subjugation by conquest.
28. The United States has a manifest destiny to be an example and a blessing to the entire human race.

Source: over 150 volumes of the Founding Fathers original writings, minutes, letters, biographies, etc. distilled into The Five Thousand Year Leap, by W. Cleon Skousen, published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, 1981.

Tags: cleon skousen, Founding Fathers, free-market, liberty, principles

The Five Thousand Year Leap & The Invisible Hand

For over 5000 years there have been many civilized colonies of human beings ranging from widespread and powerful empires to small villages. The one that has a very different beginning from the rest is the United States. From it has come the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution with its Bill of Rights. These inspired documents, supported by the actions of our Founding Fathers and other great statesmen, have secured the rights and freedoms of each individual to such an extent that in the past 200 years we have experienced a mighty leap in technical, political and economic achievement.

These achievements have largely been a result of the free-market economy which has existed to a great extent during the lifetime of this country. As a nation we are far more prosperous when allowed our liberty; when the Invisible Hand is allowed to run its course.

…every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good. [Adam Smith, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" 1776]

Unfortunately there are some who believe they know what’s best for the rest of mankind and they go about trying to regulate the economy and the lives of others. If we are not educated and alert to these threats against our freedom we will face the same destructive fate as many societies before. Fortunately there are many great statesmen that understood the principles of liberty and have made that knowledge available to us.

In his book, The Five Thousand Year Leap, W. Cleon Skousen presents 28 great principles that are changing the world. Dr. Skousen spent many years researching the Founding Fathers and discovered that their teachings could be formulated into 28 basic principles.

These principles cover topics such as Natural Law, Morality, the Role of Religion, God, Man’s Unalienable Rights, Sovereignty, Republican form of Government, Property Rights, Free-Market Economics, a Written Constitution, Limited Government, Avoid Entangling Alliances, and more.

I recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn about the basic principles of the Founding Fathers.

The freedom enjoyed because of the application of these principles is what has made it possible for so many millions of people to prosper in business today.

Tags: constitution, Founding Fathers, free-market, freedom, invisible hand, liberty, principles

Welcome to successofliberty.com

successofliberty.com is The Business Success & Liberty Blog. The idea behind the creation of this blog is to provide valuable information to business owners. I will be presenting the principles of success and liberty as taught by the United States Founding Fathers and other successful Entrepreneurs.

There is much to learn from this nations inspired founders including many principles that can used to be successful in business.

Consider Benjamin Franklin, Scientist, Publisher and Statesman, as a great example of a successful entrepreneur.

Benjamin Franklin was the publisher of the Poor Richard’s Almanac. As inventor he created bifocals, a glass harmonica, the lightning rod, an odometer,the Franklin stove and many other great devices. Franklin played a vital diplomatic role during the American Revolution and was also part of the Constitutional Convention.

A lot of insight can be gained from reading about the life of Benjamin Franklin and his successes in business. This will be discussed further in later blog posts.

My Technorati Profile

Tags: benjamin franklin, business success, Founding Fathers, liberty, statesman