The Business Success & Liberty Blog

Who’s Running for President? Palin vs Obama? Does it Matter?

Is John McCain’s decision to choose Sarah Palin helping or hurting his campaign? Does it matter?

Does it really matter who becomes President of the United States? Does it matter if Obama/Biden or McCain/Palin wins?

As much as I would love to see a Constitutionalist become President, that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a President who actually knew, understood and followed the Constitution.  Neither the Repiblican nor the Democrat Presidential candidates are constitutionalists. Neither one supports the proper role of government. Why is that?

I believe that we get what we ask for. The majority of the people in the United States do not understand the Constitution and don’t understand what freedom is really all about. We all like to talk about freedom, but not many have truly sought an education on freedom, such as the Founding Fathers had.

True freedom involves having the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness/property without government intervention, so long as you are not destroying the life, liberty and property of another.

Today, the majority of people (Republicans and Democrats alike) believe in socialism.  They may not think they do, but they do, and that’s why we have so much socialism in America.  We get what we ask for. Socialism is the opposite of freedom because it uses force to accomplish its objective.  Socialism is government involvement in the distribution of wealth; it’s basically legalized plunder, taking from one to give to another. Socialism goes against the fundamentals of liberty. Force (socialism) destroys freedom and prosperity.

Is socialism bad? That depends on you. Some people are happy with the government meddling in their lives, others are just not educated and ignorant; many just don’t have time to care one way or the other. I am inspired by freedom, and I understand that to have true freedom I cannot support socialism. It is a contradiction to want freedom and encourage socialism at the same time. While both socialism and freedom exist in America, as socialism increases, freedom decreases and vice versa.

How do we really create change in America?

We have to actually want it, live it, and be willing to do something about it. We also have to clearly define the change that we want and enroll others in our vision.

Personally, I want liberty, which is why I educate myself to understand the proper role of government, and the principles of economics and freedom. I also apply those principles in my life. If I don’t do what I can to be self-reliant and have personal freedom it wouldn’t make much sense to stand up for political freedom.

So… Does it really matter who becomes President? I say what really matters is what we as individuals believe in.  We get what we want.  If we want freedom, we must align our lives in accordance with that desire.

Tags: barack obama, constitution, freedom, joe biden, john mccain, liberty, presidential campaign, ron paul, sarah palin, socialism

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

A Nation of Independents or Dependents?

I was recently listening to a great talk by Oliver DeMille titled “The Four Lost American Ideals“. In this lecture Oliver DeMille makes the point that the Founding Fathers set our society up with the idea of having a nation of “independents” or small business owners.

Before the 1900’s it is reported that about 90% of Americans were business owners and now the reality is completely opposite. This “American way” has dramatically disappeared with less that ten percent of the people in our country currently being business owners. “A nation of dependents won’t be free.”

Often the difference between a person that chooses to be independent rather than dependent is the type of education they received. Those who have a received a “Liber” education generally learn how to think for themselves, whereas others are taught what to think.

I wasn’t brought up in a Liber education. During the past 4 years of my life I have drastically changed my paradigm and way of thinking more in line with a Liber education, through my own studies of the Founding Fathers, the proper role of government and the principles of freedom.  The studies have also lead me to studying the writings of other great minds such as Napolean Hill, Norman Vincent Peale, James Allen, and others.  This paradigm shift gave me the desire to pursue my own interests in business as an Entrepreneur rather than working for someone else the rest of my life. I have made the choice to be an independent rather than a dependent.

It’s not necessarily a bad or good thing to be a dependent or an independent, it’s simply a choice. I also recognize that no one is ever going to be completely independent, even as a business owner I still depend on other individuals and businesses for many things, though as a business owner I enjoy a lot more freedom than I previously did when working for others.  One point I’d like to promote is that whether you choose to be a business owner or an employee, realize that it is a choice.  You are free to choose your path, you are the creator of your own life and your own happiness.

I recommend a book by Oliver Van DeMille: “A Thomas Jefferson Education“. Also, you can learn more at the George Wythe University website: http://www.gw.edu. George Wythe University is boldly dedicated to building Statesmen using the methods which trained great Statesmen from Joan of Arc to Washington, Jefferson and Adams to Lincoln, Churchill and Gandhi to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa. Oliver DeMille is the founder of George Wythe University.

Tags: business owner, freedom, independent, liber, self help, thomas jefferson

A Free-Market Economy Makes You Free

The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy (free enterprise) and a minimum of government regulations.

Prosperity depends upon a climate of wholesome stimulation with four basic freedoms in operation:

• The Freedom to try.
• The Freedom to buy.
• The Freedom to sell.
• The Freedom to fail.

A market economy (also called a free market economy or a free enterprise economy) is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods and services take place through the mechanism of free markets guided by a free price system. In a market economy, businesses and consumers decide of their own volition what they will purchase and produce. Technically this means that the producer gets to decide what to produce, how much to produce, what to charge to customers for those goods, what to pay employees, etc., and not the government. These decisions in a free-market economy are influenced by the pressures of competition, supply, and demand. This is often contrasted with a planned economy, in which a central government decides what will be produced and in what quantities.

No pure market economy exists. Thus, almost all economies in the world today are mixed economies which combine varying degrees of market and command economy traits.

Here are some quotes from some of my favorite philosophers in support of the free-market system.

Every individual necessarily labors to render the annual revenue of society as great as he can. He generally neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. 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 not part of his intention. [Adam Smith]

A society that robs an individual of the product of his effort … is not strictly speaking a society, but a mob held together by institutionalized gang violence. [Ayn Rand]

We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force. [Ayn Rand]

In the long run even the most despotic governments with all their brutality and cruelty are no match for ideas. Eventually the ideology that has won the support of the majority will prevail and cut the ground from under the tyrant’s feet. Then the oppressed many will rise in rebellion and overthrow their masters. [Ludwig Von Mises]

The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder (taxes). [Frederique Bastiat]

Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. [Milton Friedman]

The economic miracle that has been the United States was not produced by socialized enterprises, by government-unon-industry cartels or by centralized economic planning. It was produced by private enterprises in a profit-and-loss system. And losses were at least as important in weeding out failures, as profits in fostering successes. Let government succor failures, and we shall be headed for stagnation and decline. [Milton Friedman]

Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion – the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary cooperation of individuals – the technique of the marketplace. [Milton Friedman]

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. …government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. [Ronald Reagan]

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. [Albert Einstein]

The easiest way to determine which ecomomic system results in the greatest individual prosperity and wealth is simply by examining which are the wealthiest countries in terms of ‘per capita personal income’. The European Union, United States, Japan and Germany are at the top. The countries which allow the most freedom in the economy have the wealthiest people. Those countries that are more socialistic and have greater controls and regulations on their economies result in more poor.

A Free-Market Economy Makes You Free

Tags: adam smith, ayn rand, bastiat, capitalism, free-market, freedom, milton friedman, quotes

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