The US Presidential Candidates’ Declaration of Dependence and Sacrifice
In the “Service Nation Presidential Candidates Forum” hosted by
Senator John McCain said that after 9-11, he would have called upon Americans to serve. He said, “What has been missing is a president in the White House that taps into that yearning (for service) in a serious way.” The senator extolled service: “Finding new ways to serve - that’s what these next few years should be all about.” “It’s not about the individual; it’s about the cause we serve.” “It makes us exceptional in the kind of citizenry we have and the kind of service and sacrifice that we are capable of.”
Had Senator Barack Obama been president at the time of 9-11, rather than tell the American people to shop, he would have done this, among others: “I would have asked very explicitly for young people to engage in community service and military service.” The senator also extolled service: “The next president is going to have to actively pursue these issues of service.” “… a president who is willing to inspire people to get involved and get outside of themselves.” “What it means to be an American (is) to serve and to sacrifice.”
The
Senator Barack Obama’s national service plan has a price tag of around $3.5 billion, while Senator John McCain would sign the bipartisan bill on national service tripling the size of AmeriCorps.
The Declaration of Independence does not include the words “serve”, “service”, or “sacrifice”. It mentions “Happiness” twice and “Rights” thrice. It does not speak of a cause greater than oneself, but of the “Right of the People”:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
The Gettysburg Address does not include the words “serve”, “service”, or “sacrifice” either:
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
President Abraham Lincoln also said this: "We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny."
Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said: "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."
Americans who, like President Lincoln and President Jefferson, think of liberty as: “each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor”, find that the legacy of the Founding Fathers and the brave men President Lincoln honored in his Gettysburg Address, is not represented by any presidential candidate.
President Lincoln said that he had an oath registered in heaven, the most solemn one: to preserve, protect, and defend the government of the people, by the people, for the people -- to preserve, protect, and defend the nation conceived in Liberty -- liberty, which means: “each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor.”
On January 20th, 2009, the
On January 20th, 2009, the President of the
The next President of the
The person who serves and the one being served are both dependents, just like the sacrificer and the sacrifice-profiteer. The presidential candidates glorify dependence and sacrifice, and thus dishonor the Declaration of Independence.
After 9-11, Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama would have called upon Americans to serve. The senators fault President George W. Bush for not tapping into the Americans’ “yearning for service”, and for asking them to shop.
After 9-11, President George W. Bush assured Americans that their government would protect them, that they could travel and go about their normal lives. He did not ask them to sacrifice nor do their government’s responsibility -- he urged Americans to honor what they are: brave and strong. He threw a ceremonial baseball pitch at the Yankee stadium -- he glorified what is mentioned twice in the Declaration of Independence: Happiness!
I thank President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and nameless courageous heroes, for successfully thwarting another 9-11 for seven years.
Fellow Americans, let us demand that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, honor George Washington, the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, and the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence -- that Individual Rights, that the pursuit of happiness and of one’s own personal interests, shall not perish from the earth!
Part 2: The US Presidential Candidates’ Declaration of Dependence and Sacrifice
The
American: Senators McCain and Obama, are you men of integrity?
Senator McCain: Yes, I sure am.
Senator Obama: Certainly; I am.
A: You both hold the conviction that the ideal of service and sacrifice is a cause greater than the individual.
SJM: On my honor, I do.
SBO: I solemnly do.
A: Senator Obama, since Senator McCain sacrificed in a war while you have not, would you now honor your ideal by halting your campaign, thereby sacrificing your wish to serve as President of the
Senator McCain, since you have already sacrificed and served for many years, would you now honor your ideal by sacrificing your wish to serve as President of the USA, that Senator Obama may experience what you both hold dear?
SBO: But there is a cause greater than my wish to serve and sacrifice as president: this country and the world need me and my vision for change!
SJM: I have a duty greater than my wish to further serve and sacrifice, which is to restore traditional values!
A: A man of integrity acts in accordance with his values, and translates his convictions into practical reality. President George Washington, who thought it abhorrent to be king of the USA, set a precedent in the interest of Liberty by refusing to run for a third term.
SBO: I admire President George Washington, but my favorite is President John Kennedy who said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
A: I ask not what the government can do, because the Declaration of Independence is clear: the only purpose of law and of government is the protection of each man’s Life,
I ask not what I can do, because it has been immortalized by Presidents Lincoln and Jefferson: I can do as I please with myself, and the product of my labor, within limits drawn around me by the equal rights of others.
I ask not what I can do for my fellowmen, because we are independent, sovereign entities endowed with equal rights.
I do assert every man’s unalienable rights! My government:
Ask not that I volunteer to be a slave; do solemnly swear to defend my freedom.
Ask not that I accept masochism and sadism as noble; do highly resolve to protect my right to pursue happiness.
Ask not that I condemn selfishness; do take increased devotion to honor and preserve its advocate: the Declaration of Independence.
Ask not how to limit the individual; ask how to get out of his way!
Part 3: The US Presidential Candidates’ Declaration of Dependence and Sacrifice
One who declares for a cause higher than the individual cannot claim to be a defender of individual liberty.
Individualism regards every man as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses unalienable rights. An individualist respects individual liberty — his own and that of others. Independent equals must choose: self-reliance or dependence. Self-reliance requires selfishness. Dependence breeds moochers, looters, and rulers.
Men who glorify servility need serfs to provide their sustenance. They are not satisfied with benevolence; they demand sacrifice – the renunciation or destruction of the precious. They damn selfishness as evil, and preach masochism and sadism in the name of service and sacrifice.
One who is not self-reliant, a moocher or a looter, is selfless. He does not use his own mind. Having no self-respect, he needs others – for approval, guidance, and/or sustenance. One who babysits adults dishonors independence, and derives self-esteem from others. A criminal is selfless - he recklessly risks his life and freedom for his need of victims. A power luster tramples on individual liberty and derives satisfaction from enslaving others – he is not an individualist; he is not selfish.
Those who fear self-reliance, i.e. selfishness, demonize individualism - they advocate service and sacrifice. Since President Abraham Lincoln and his heroes had eradicated serfdom, citizens are conned into thinking that voluntary self-immolation is noble. Men conned into regarding selfishness as evil evade that it is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. They unwittingly facilitate power lusters who recognize that man’s love of self must be destroyed so rulers could thrive.
To value is a function of the self – it is selfish to care for loved ones; their well-being or happiness is not divorced from the valuer’s. That good people live and prosper is in one’s own self-interest – one benefits from the advantages of social existence: exchange of knowledge, trade, division of labor, and defense from force – one wants to live in freedom and in peace – therefore, to cherish a society that respects individual rights is selfish.
Individualists do not need sacrificial lambs. Men with self-esteem, i.e. selfish men, take pride in independence. One cannot achieve happiness without self-esteem. Without self-respect, life is not worth living. This explains why men of integrity do the right thing no matter the cost. No matter how difficult, they cannot do otherwise - they cannot sacrifice their self-respect. Doing the right thing is not sacrifice – it is upholding the precious, not renouncing or destroying it – this explains why President Lincoln did not utter service or sacrifice in his Gettysburg Address.
Patrick Henry immortalized selfishness when he said, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
President George Washington protected and preserved individual liberty when he rejected a movement to make him King of the United States, calling it "abhorrent", and when he refused to run for a third term. He evinced an enormous respect for himself and his fellowmen. He personified integrity.
President Thomas Jefferson said, "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government."
Those who damn selfishness denounce the desire to live happily. Those who need slaves damn selfishness because people who value themselves cannot be ruled. Men who love themselves but facilitate these damners are cowards.
You who defend selfishness honor its advocates: President George Washington, the Founding Fathers, President Abraham Lincoln, and brave individuals who struggled or are struggling that the nation conceived in
Those who declare for self-renunciation or self-destruction are unfit protectors of individual liberty. They should be voted out from the government of the people, by the people, for the people –
That the Land of the Free shall not perish from the earth!
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Capitalism and the Declaration of
Capitalism is rooted in the Declaration of Independence (DOI), which, in turn, is rooted in reality.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
These few words convey the following:
1) The only purpose of law and of government is to secure the equal rights of its citizens.
2) Independent equals delegate to the government their right to self-defense. This puts the power to use force in the hands of their protector while they pledge not to use force when dealing with their fellowmen, except in emergency self-defense.
Citizens cannot delegate a right they do not possess. It is very important to remember that what is delegated is the right to self-defense because this means that the government has no right to interfere in the intellectual and moral life of its law-abiding (see item 1) citizens. It is not the government's function to protect a citizen from himself or from nature. But the DOI has been subverted.
The realm of production and trade is an aspect of man’s intellectual life.
The DOI mandates absolute freedom in all realms not involving the use of force delegated to prevent, counteract, and punish fraud and the initiation of force.
Government functions other than the following subvert the DOI because it would involve using force against innocent citizens:
a) Police Force and Criminal Courts – to prevent criminals from
defrauding, robbing, or physically harming its citizens, and to apprehend
and prosecute criminals
b) Civil Courts – to resolve civil disputes
c) Military – to prevent, repel, and defeat foreign aggression
3) Men are independent equals and they have unalienable rights to pursue happiness. Having no slaves, each man is responsible for sustaining his own life.
The government has no right to infringe the unalienable rights of citizens who are not defrauding, robbing, physically harming other people, nor attempting to.
If a man does not work, neither he nor the government has the right to rob other citizens for his sustenance. Since a man has no right to rob, injure, or force other men, he cannot delegate such right – thus the government has no such right.
If a man does not work, the government has no right to force him to work. If a man wants to have his cake and eat it, too, the government has no right to coerce others to provide the cake. If millions of men do not sustain their own lives, neither they nor the government has the right to coerce responsible citizens to sustain their lives for them.
The government has no right to extort in order to provide goods or services for its citizens’ sustenance. It is not its task to prevent nature from harming its citizens.
4) The DOI regards man as efficacious, virtuous, and, by his nature, deserving of individual liberty. It proclaims that each man is an end in himself – that he is not the means to the ends of others.
Whereas, those who need slaves declare that there is a cause greater than the individual – they name this cause: sacrifice, patriotism, country, society, or greater good.
My response to this is: The end does not justify the means. No cause can be good if it requires the sacrifice, enslavement, or injury of one law-abiding citizen.
Some regard man as inefficacious, depraved, and undeserving of rights, yet they believe that a collection of such incompetents, when in government or supported by it, should coerce law-abiding citizens.
5) If man has no property rights, he has no right to his own life. A man is a slave if he has no rights to the fruits of his labors.
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Preventing criminals or terrorists from contaminating or destroying sources and distribution channels of food and water is a protector function; setting standards like prices or quality is not.
If a man desires to eat in a restaurant but can’t afford its food prices, he has no right to force the owner to lower the prices – neither has the government – but such man is free to compete with such restaurant and put its owner out of business.
If a restaurant owner defrauds or attempts to defraud its patrons, or commits acts that could result in physical harm (e.g. disregarding employees’ report of contaminated food) – the police and courts step in. If a news report harming the reputation of a restaurant is libelous – its owner has recourse in the courts.
Say, a company building a railroad offers to buy the restaurant for a project that many think would benefit the entire country. The company does its best in persuading the restaurant owner to sell, but if he refuses, the company has no right to force him, not because such right has been delegated to the government – there is no such right to delegate. What has been delegated to the government is every citizen’s right to self-defense, including the restaurant owner’s, when someone tries to take his property by force.
In eminent domain, the protector has turned aggressor - government has become a tyrant.
