Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Personal Statement

Having a newly formed zeal for blogging I feel that I must establish my personal statement at the outset.

First of all I believe in freedom and in the free market capitalism, which I believe is the main reason for America's current standing and our one hope for future prosperity and opportunity. What other system has raised the standard of living for even the most common lower class citizen to the high levels that we almost universally enjoy today?

The course of history has shown us that despotism, totalitarianism and forms of socialism have been the rule in the world not the exception. For the most part, ruling class bureaucrats and aristocrats have lived lives of excess while the common person has battled grinding poverty as a coarse of life. When you travel and observe the majestic cathedrals, edifices, pyramids, and works of art consider that these were built almost on the whole by a centralized powerful authority who subjected the common citizens to poverty stricken and inconsequential lives.

America has established itself as different, a 'great experiment'. Our founders fought for freedom from usurpation and unjust taxation. Thomas Jefferson, one of our most influential thinkers, rejected concentrated power. In his words: "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." He penned the declaration of our independence and our American philosophy when he wrote that we are all endowed by our creator with inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, and that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it."

The purpose of government is to secure our inalienable rights. Not to feed us, clothe us, medicate us, control us, lead us in worship, look after our mental health or - perish the thought! - to nibble away at our rights and freedoms and expand its own power. The sole legitimate function of government is to secure our rights. When it fails to do so it ceases to be legitimate and the people have the right to take matters (back) into their own hands.

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith was written in the same year as the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and has influenced our economic philosophy just as much as Jefferson has influenced our political philosophy. We have, for the most part, let every man seek his own self interest whatever that may be. As Adam Smith explains, when two parties each seeking their own personal self interest undergo a transaction, the invisible hand goes to work making the entire community beneficial.

It is not from government planning that we enjoy our prosperity, wealth, technology, and knowledge that we have acquired over the ages. It is the ambition and self interest of the individual seeking to make his life better, and to benefit from his hard work and sacrifice. It is not because of government and bureaucrats that we succeed but despite them; and the challenges we face today will be overcome by private enterprising individuals working and sacrificing for themselves and their families despite the obstacles of overgrown bureaucracy created by otherwise capable bureaucrats, who have chosen the public life rather than use their talents toward the private economy.


Now, why blog? It is to do my part to help alter the culture of opinion in this country. I would consider myself a conservative, however, I do not wish to 'conserve' the current culture of government largesse. Therefore, as it is our duty to vote and alter public policy to the benefit of our country, I feel the best way to accomplish this is to change the current culture of opinion. In the early history of our country, politicians appealed to the public's distaste for centralized government and love of freedom. Now in our current culture we ask 'what will government do to fix it?'. I only ask that every politician take the oath that I took upon graduating medical school -- that you 'first do no harm'.