For the average American born before 1913, contact with the United States federal government was pretty much only through the post office.
Pretty hard to imagine today, right?
But alas, in 1913, the The Federal Reserve & federal income tax were both created. Congress (unconstitutionally) granted a monopoly over the money supply to The Fed, ensuring the ultimate destruction of the money. And, going forward, whatever earnings an American worked for would belong to the federal government first. The politicians would then decide how much of it Americans could keep.
That was 107 years ago.
Now look at the average American's contact with the federal government.
It's a fanatical preoccupation!
From contact with the federal government via the post office, to an obsession that consumes millions of people's lives on a daily basis. Every political gesticulation is fixated upon as if it's a life-destroying or life-saving event.
Oh, how the "Land of the Free" has lost its way.
But the ideas of freedom have not changed one bit. They are as fixed and as constant as ever. They are as universal and understandable as ever, even to a child.
'Live and let live.'
'Do as you wish, but first, do no harm.'
The words of Saint Augustine still stand: “Love, and do as you will.”
As a human being, your nature is freedom.
Each and every one of us has the freedom to choose the direction and content of one's own thoughts, the freedom to choose one's own beliefs, and the freedom to act to achieve one's own subjective desires and goals.
As a human being, you must act. You cannot live without action. Life is never static. It is perpetual movement. There is no equilibrium to be reached; no homeostatic or frozen utopia to be attained.
The ideas of Liberty are laser-focused on this all-important aspect of action.
Act as you wish, that is your gift ... but do no harm to others. Your action is never without restraint. Other individuals are blessed with the gift of Liberty just as much as you are. They are your restraint. Likewise, you and your property are the restraint on their actions.
Do not harm them, or their property.
They shouldn't harm you, or your property.
If one of you errs, the proper role of government would be to punish the aggressor.
So if you look closely, the ideas of Liberty are really a prescription for a "personal foreign policy."
Will you be a person with a non-interventionist foreign policy of peace with other individuals? Or will you be an imperialist, who aggresses against the person and property of others?
Will you be compatriot, or a busybody?
It's always an individual choice.
Over the last 100 years in America, the role of government has been flipped completely upside-down. Instead of protecting individual liberty, it has become the primary aggressor against individual liberty!
Likewise, instead of a nation of compatriots, there is an over-abundance of busybodies!
What is the mentality of both the government and the busybody citizens?
The desire for action without restraint.
"Steal from them, and give it to me."
"Tax them."
"Invade them."
"Re-make them."
"Tell them what to think, what to believe, and what to do."
"Force them!"
This is nothing new. Human nature doesn't change. Mankind's history is littered with one example after another of failed attempts to act without restraint.
It's the perpetual choice that each individual must make: Liberty or Tyranny?
It's always just a matter of scale. For the first half of America's history, the ideas of Liberty dominated the minds of Americans (in general).
Today, (in general) it does not.
The size of the federal government reflects this change in mentality perfectly. The federal government used to be a pretty insignificant institution. It was there to provide for the common defense, and to maintain the freedom of commerce.
Today, the federal government is the biggest government to ever exist in the history of the world. It engages in countless endless wars, and the freedom of commerce has been virtually eliminated in favor of politically-connected and crony business.
Cause and effect.
Pretty basic stuff.
Life offers no surprises.
But, despite the wrong road that Americans (in general) have been traveling over the last 100+ years, the ideas of Liberty haven't disappeared. They can't disappear completely. They can only be hidden under the pile of errors in thinking.
Fortunately, for the sake of humanity, the pile of errors can only get so high. There cannot be an infinite pile of errors.
The heap has limits.
In the meantime, life is lived right here, and right now. Every individual is free to choose their own "personal foreign policy" right now.
'Live and let live.'
'First, do no harm.'
Thank goodness the truth never leaves us.
