Excerpt from George Washington's Farewell Address.
All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.
However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
"The Invisible Hand Is a Gentle Hand"
by Sharon Harris, TheAdvocates.org.
The enemies of freedom have always maligned the free market. They have perpetuated myths like "dog-eat-dog capitalism," "survival of the fittest," "the law of the jungle." Robber barons. Heartless monopolies. A ruthless Wall Street fleecing a helpless Main Street.
Nonsense.
It's time to speak out for the free market and individual liberty.
The great economist Adam Smith wrote that a free society operates as if "an invisible hand" directs people's actions — in such a way as to serve the interest of the whole society.
That invisible hand is a gentle one. A free market is a gentle market. A free society is a gentle society. A cooperative, compassionate, and generous society. An abundant and tolerant society.
David Friedman, in his book The Machinery of Freedom, notes that there are only three ways to get something: (1) by trading, (2) by receiving a gift (from love or friendship), or (3) by force ("do what I want or I'll shoot you"). Honest, peaceful people operate in the first two ways. Criminals and the state operate by force, aggression, coercion.
The gentle invisible hand vs. the visible fist of force. . .
To read the entire speech, click here.
The enemies of freedom have always maligned the free market. They have perpetuated myths like "dog-eat-dog capitalism," "survival of the fittest," "the law of the jungle." Robber barons. Heartless monopolies. A ruthless Wall Street fleecing a helpless Main Street.
Nonsense.
It's time to speak out for the free market and individual liberty.
The great economist Adam Smith wrote that a free society operates as if "an invisible hand" directs people's actions — in such a way as to serve the interest of the whole society.
That invisible hand is a gentle one. A free market is a gentle market. A free society is a gentle society. A cooperative, compassionate, and generous society. An abundant and tolerant society.
David Friedman, in his book The Machinery of Freedom, notes that there are only three ways to get something: (1) by trading, (2) by receiving a gift (from love or friendship), or (3) by force ("do what I want or I'll shoot you"). Honest, peaceful people operate in the first two ways. Criminals and the state operate by force, aggression, coercion.
The gentle invisible hand vs. the visible fist of force. . .
To read the entire speech, click here.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
"Chasing Gelten Shadows"
by Jake Towne.
“Money is not an invention of the state. It is not the product of a legislative act.” - Carl Menger, 1871
Money is an invention of mankind. Our society refers to the irredeemable scraps of linen and ink as “money,” but in truth the dollar is no such thing. It is merely a currency, a medium of exchange, created by fiat – by government decree and force. The dollar is a phantom I.O.U. note. It is a Ponzi scheme and the central banking system issues new dollar currency whenever it wishes.
Dollars are toxic waste in the literal and fiscal sense. Literally, each dollar bill contains arsenic, cadmium, mercury, thallium, and cyanide and generates dumpster upon dumpster of hazardous waste every day. Fiscally, the dollar has lost 98.3% of its value as of January 1, 2010 since the creation of the central bank known as the Federal Reserve in 1913. (Note 1) Many Americans are unaware that the electrons and scraps of linen we trade around as currency are mere shadows of sound money. . .
To read the entire article, click here.
“Money is not an invention of the state. It is not the product of a legislative act.” - Carl Menger, 1871
Money is an invention of mankind. Our society refers to the irredeemable scraps of linen and ink as “money,” but in truth the dollar is no such thing. It is merely a currency, a medium of exchange, created by fiat – by government decree and force. The dollar is a phantom I.O.U. note. It is a Ponzi scheme and the central banking system issues new dollar currency whenever it wishes.
Dollars are toxic waste in the literal and fiscal sense. Literally, each dollar bill contains arsenic, cadmium, mercury, thallium, and cyanide and generates dumpster upon dumpster of hazardous waste every day. Fiscally, the dollar has lost 98.3% of its value as of January 1, 2010 since the creation of the central bank known as the Federal Reserve in 1913. (Note 1) Many Americans are unaware that the electrons and scraps of linen we trade around as currency are mere shadows of sound money. . .
To read the entire article, click here.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Announcing a Special LBCCS January Meeting!
At this month's meeting, we will be discussing Classical Liberalism and the Radical Roots of the American Revolution. Were our founding fathers Conservatives? [Modern] Liberals? Anarchists? We know from history that most of our founding fathers and the architects of the American Revolution were "Classical Liberals." This is the ideology that led them to resist and eventually fight the American Revolution. Some nowadays classify our founding fathers as terrorists, but if you understand their ideology and the true history of what happened, it becomes perfectly clear that they were justified in all that they did and were not "terrosists" even by a stretch of the brain. But were they radicals? Certainly.
Come and join us as we learn and discuss together! We will be meeting for the first time at the historic Belmont Inne in Bethlehem and will also be charging for entrance to the meeting. A snack buffet will be provided by the inn. Please RSVP by Facebook or email (ryan_burgett@hotmail.com) by January 12 so we can properly prepare for the group. We hope to see you there!
Time:
Friday, January 15 @ 7:00pm
Cost:
$8 / person if RSVP'd by the 12th
or
$11 at the door.
Place:
The Belmont Inne
3750 Old Philadelphia Pike
Bethlehem, PA 18015
For a map and to get directions, click here.
Come and join us as we learn and discuss together! We will be meeting for the first time at the historic Belmont Inne in Bethlehem and will also be charging for entrance to the meeting. A snack buffet will be provided by the inn. Please RSVP by Facebook or email (ryan_burgett@hotmail.com) by January 12 so we can properly prepare for the group. We hope to see you there!
Time:
Friday, January 15 @ 7:00pm
Cost:
$8 / person if RSVP'd by the 12th
or
$11 at the door.
Place:
The Belmont Inne
3750 Old Philadelphia Pike
Bethlehem, PA 18015
For a map and to get directions, click here.
"Paper Money and the Constitution"
by Rick Lynch, TenthAmendmentCenter.com.
Why do we have a Constitution? How and why did it come into existence? Just what, exactly, prompted the calling of the Constitutional Convention, which gave birth to it? Most Americans believe, logically enough, that with the passing of the British from the scene it was simply time to create a new government to take the place of the old. That notion, however, ignores the facts that Americans already had a functioning government at the time of the Convention and that that government had been in effect for six years following the final British defeat at Yorktown.
No, the overthrow of the old government and the establishment of the new were prompted by an internal tumult... that had nothing to do with the departure of the British. That crisis revolved around the printing of paper money by some of the newly freed states. . . .
To read the entire article, click here.
Why do we have a Constitution? How and why did it come into existence? Just what, exactly, prompted the calling of the Constitutional Convention, which gave birth to it? Most Americans believe, logically enough, that with the passing of the British from the scene it was simply time to create a new government to take the place of the old. That notion, however, ignores the facts that Americans already had a functioning government at the time of the Convention and that that government had been in effect for six years following the final British defeat at Yorktown.
No, the overthrow of the old government and the establishment of the new were prompted by an internal tumult... that had nothing to do with the departure of the British. That crisis revolved around the printing of paper money by some of the newly freed states. . . .
To read the entire article, click here.
Monday, December 28, 2009
"Philosophy vs. Conspiracy"
by Jerry Salcido, CampaignForLiberty.com
Anyone who has worked in support of the liberty movement knows an unfortunate truth: it is all too often associated, rightly or wrongly, with "conspiracy theories" -- those all too often unsubstantiated, speculative viewpoints on various topics such as the assassination of JFK, the attempted assassination of Reagan, 9/11, the role of the Rockefellers and Rothschilds in modern world history, and the current doings of the Bilderbergers, Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations. The problem is that liberty's enemies are very aware of this association as well and they use it to their advantage. Too often freedom's detractors slander the liberty movement as being filled with conspiracy nuts and other wackos.
But you know what? In this regard, the dissidents have a point. . . .
To read the entire article, click here.
Anyone who has worked in support of the liberty movement knows an unfortunate truth: it is all too often associated, rightly or wrongly, with "conspiracy theories" -- those all too often unsubstantiated, speculative viewpoints on various topics such as the assassination of JFK, the attempted assassination of Reagan, 9/11, the role of the Rockefellers and Rothschilds in modern world history, and the current doings of the Bilderbergers, Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations. The problem is that liberty's enemies are very aware of this association as well and they use it to their advantage. Too often freedom's detractors slander the liberty movement as being filled with conspiracy nuts and other wackos.
But you know what? In this regard, the dissidents have a point. . . .
To read the entire article, click here.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
"What Is The U.S. Constitution?"
by Timothy Baldwin, TenthAmendmentCenter.com.
After my latest article, Our Dead Constitution, was released, I received much response, many from those who understood and agreed, and some by those who were opposed to my statement, “Our constitution is dead.” This leads me to reasonably believe that many of us need to be educated about what a constitution actually is before constitutional law and freedom can be restored throughout the states.
1. A constitution does not create freedom. A constitution is created only to protect and secure freedom which already exists, through forms, structure and limitations of government. This is what our founders said in the Declaration of Independence: “to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Therefore, if one’s perspective about the U.S. Constitution is that it statically creates freedom for all the people of the states, then I could understand how he would be shocked or angered at the suggestion that the U.S. Constitution is dead. To the contrary, we know that freedom exists in a state of nature, created by God, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. . . .
To read the entire article, click here.
After my latest article, Our Dead Constitution, was released, I received much response, many from those who understood and agreed, and some by those who were opposed to my statement, “Our constitution is dead.” This leads me to reasonably believe that many of us need to be educated about what a constitution actually is before constitutional law and freedom can be restored throughout the states.
1. A constitution does not create freedom. A constitution is created only to protect and secure freedom which already exists, through forms, structure and limitations of government. This is what our founders said in the Declaration of Independence: “to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Therefore, if one’s perspective about the U.S. Constitution is that it statically creates freedom for all the people of the states, then I could understand how he would be shocked or angered at the suggestion that the U.S. Constitution is dead. To the contrary, we know that freedom exists in a state of nature, created by God, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. . . .
To read the entire article, click here.
"Secession, the Second Amendment and Sun Tzu"
by Russell D. Longcore, DumpDC.com.
In the 6th Century BC, Chinese warrior Sun Tzu wrote “The Art of War.” It has been the definitive treatise on waging war for 26 centuries now. Only thirteen chapters, it was translated first in 1782 when a French Jesuit priest living in China, Joseph Amiot, acquired a copy of it, and translated it into French. Subsequent translations have honed the text into English...
...The general concept that I want you to take away from these verses is that in order to win many battles, you must keep your enemy off balance, deceived and confused about your strategies and tactics. If you can attack him at many weak points, he will have to respond, and therefore, you control both the location and the tempo of the battle. This will be important in the thoughts and questions below.
I’ve been writing lately about secession and the well-regulated militia, and how they should be inextricably tied to one another. From the reactions I’m receiving from readers, this concept seems to be somewhat new to them.
Specifically, I and other writers have referred to the truest meaning of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states: “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
. . . .
To read the entire article, click here.
In the 6th Century BC, Chinese warrior Sun Tzu wrote “The Art of War.” It has been the definitive treatise on waging war for 26 centuries now. Only thirteen chapters, it was translated first in 1782 when a French Jesuit priest living in China, Joseph Amiot, acquired a copy of it, and translated it into French. Subsequent translations have honed the text into English...
...The general concept that I want you to take away from these verses is that in order to win many battles, you must keep your enemy off balance, deceived and confused about your strategies and tactics. If you can attack him at many weak points, he will have to respond, and therefore, you control both the location and the tempo of the battle. This will be important in the thoughts and questions below.
I’ve been writing lately about secession and the well-regulated militia, and how they should be inextricably tied to one another. From the reactions I’m receiving from readers, this concept seems to be somewhat new to them.
Specifically, I and other writers have referred to the truest meaning of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states: “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
. . . .
To read the entire article, click here.
Friday, December 25, 2009
LBCCS Christmas Message
We at the Liberty Bell Center for Constitutional Studies would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas! As we continue in our pursuit of knowledge and liberty, may we always remember the Word that became flesh two thousand years ago and the true liberty that can only be found through Him.
Blessings to you all on this wonderful day,
Ryan Burgett
Chairman - L.B.C.C.S.
Blessings to you all on this wonderful day,
Ryan Burgett
Chairman - L.B.C.C.S.
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