David Kretzmann » Liberty http://davidkretzmann.com Pursuing a Free, Voluntary, Peaceful World Sun, 24 Nov 2013 14:14:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.7.1 Both Romney and Obama Are Dangerous http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/08/both-romney-and-obama-are-dangerous/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/08/both-romney-and-obama-are-dangerous/#comments Sat, 25 Aug 2012 01:59:54 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1820 Romney and Obama are dangerous

Mitt Romney is dangerous. Barack Obama is dangerous. Neither of them want to leave you alone. Neither of them want to end needless and atrocious wars overseas. Neither of them will dare espouse an original thought. Both are pawns. Both want to use government force to their advantage.

But go on, get emotionally attached and vote for one of these stooges who couldn’t care less about you. Oh and, of course, blame those of us who resist the nonexistent urge to cast a vote for Tyrant A or Tyrant B.

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Stanley McChrystal: Listen to Daniel Webster on the Draft http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/07/stanley-mcchrystal-listen-to-daniel-webster-on-the-draft/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/07/stanley-mcchrystal-listen-to-daniel-webster-on-the-draft/#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:00:57 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1708 Moral reasons alone should be enough to convince anyone that a military draft, no matter what the excuses, is the antithesis of individual liberty and human freedom. That notwithstanding, this Daniel Webster quote from 1814 (in the midst of the War of 1812) ought to dismantle any potential argument that states the Constitution somehow allows for the government to force individuals to participate in their military adventures. Someone should tell this to General Stanley McChrystal, the head U.S. general in Afghanistan, who just this month said, “I think we ought to have a draft.”

Daniel Webster

“Is this, Sir, consistent with the character of a free Government? Is this civil liberty? Is this the real character of our Constitution? No, Sir, indeed it is not. The Constitution is libeled, foully libeled. The people of this country have not established for themselves such a fabric of despotism. They have not purchased at a vast expense of their own treasure and their own blood a Magna Carta to be slaves. Where is it written in the Constitution, in what article or section is it contained, that you may take children from their parents, and parents from their children, and compel them to fight the battles of any war, in which the folly or the wickedness of Government may engage it? Under what concealment has this power lain hidden, which now for the first time comes forth, with a tremendous and baleful aspect, to trample down and destroy the dearest rights of personal liberty? Sir, I almost disdain to go to quotations and references to prove that such an abominable doctrine has no foundation in the Constitution of the country. It is enough to know that that instrument was intended as the basis of a free Government, and that the power contended for is incompatible with any notion of personal liberty. An attempt to maintain this doctrine upon the provisions of the Constitution is an exercise of perverse ingenuity to extract slavery from the substance of a free Government. It is an attempt to show, by proof and argument, that we ourselves are subjects of despotism, and that we have a right to chains and bondage, firmly secured to us and our children, by the provisions of our Government.

The supporters of the measures before us act on the principle that it is their task to raise arbitrary powers, by construction, out of a plain written charter of National Liberty. It is their pleasing duty to free us of the delusion, which we have fondly cherished, that we are the subjects of a mild, free and limited Government, and to demonstrate by a regular chain of premises and conclusions, that Government possesses over us a power more tyrannical, more arbitrary, more dangerous, more allied to blood and murder, more full of every form of mischief, more productive of every sort and degree of misery, than has been exercised by any civilized Government in modern times.” ~ Daniel Webster; December 9, 1814. (Full speech)

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Chief Joseph: “Let me be a free man” http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/06/chief-joseph-let-me-be-a-free-man/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/06/chief-joseph-let-me-be-a-free-man/#comments Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:41:07 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1509 Chief Joseph

“Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.” ~ Chief Joseph

The white man has no right to come here and take our country. We have never accepted any presents from the Government. Neither Lawyer nor any other chief had authority to sell this land. It has always belonged to my people. It came unclouded to them from our fathers, and we will defend this land as long as a drop of Indian blood warms the hearts of our men.

[...]

You might as well expect all rivers to run backward as that any man who was born a free man should be contented penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases. If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented nor will he grow and prosper. I have asked some of the Great White Chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They cannot tell me.

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Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.

~ Chief Joseph, Nez Perce; 1879, Lincoln Hall (Washington D.C.)

Of all the atrocities committed by governments through world history, few can compare to the travesty of the treatment of Native American tribes between 1500 and 1900. Within 400 years an entire culture made up of decentralized yet highly coordinated tribes was nearly wiped off the face of the American continent. The displacement, removal, and outright extermination of Native Americans remains one of the deadliest and most vile actions perpetrated by the U.S. government.

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Ron Paul: I Endorse the Idea of Voluntarism http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/02/ron-paul-i-endorse-the-idea-of-voluntarism/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/02/ron-paul-i-endorse-the-idea-of-voluntarism/#comments Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:56:50 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1302

"I endorse the idea of voluntarism, self-responsibility, family, friends, and churches to solve problems, rather than saying that some monolithic government is going to make you take care of yourself and be a better person." ~ Ron Paul

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Ron Paul: Freedom and Market Competition http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/02/ron-paul-freedom-and-market-competition/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/02/ron-paul-freedom-and-market-competition/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:31:06 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1283

"If we are not even free anymore to decide something as basic as what we wish to eat or drink, how much freedom do we really have left?" ~ Ron Paul

"True competition in the delivery of medical care is what is needed, not more government meddling." ~ Ron Paul

"Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long." ~ Ron Paul

"There's a risk I could win." ~ Ron Paul

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Ron Paul: Imperfect Messenger, Perfect Message http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/ron-paul-imperfect-messenger-perfect-message/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/ron-paul-imperfect-messenger-perfect-message/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:33:51 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1273

"I'm an imperfect messenger, but the message is perfect." ~ Ron Paul

The only presidential candidate who talks more about his country and the world than himself. The only candidate who isn’t a power-hungry egomaniac. The only individual sacrificing his time and energy to spread the ideas and message of freedom. The only candidate who has lived a life of principle dedicated to liberty, freedom, and selfless service.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Loma6chxrX8[/youtube]

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Ron Paul: The Importance of Free Speech and the Internet http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/ron-paul-the-importance-of-free-speech-and-the-internet/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/ron-paul-the-importance-of-free-speech-and-the-internet/#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:59:24 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1219

"Regulating speech is a dangerous notion, and not compatible with the principles of a free society." ~ Ron Paul

The First Amendment is not there to protect our ability to broadcast weather reports or follow our favorite celebrities. Popular and uncontroversial speech doesn’t need protection. A free society that upholds the inherent human right to free speech will be all the stronger because of it. Only a weak society would feel the need to censor, control, and limit certain expressions of speech. The stronger the society, the more free speech will be protected and upheld; free speech and the free flow of ideas and information will strengthen a free society. The weaker the society, the more free speech will be called “radical” and “dangerous.”

This is why Ron Paul was the only presidential candidate to take a public stand against SOPA and PIPA, two bills circulating through the House and Senate that would essentially give the government the ability to censor certain websites and content in the name of protecting corporate intellectual property.

"My campaign, and the entire freedom movement, would not be as strong as they are today without a free Internet." ~ Ron Paul

“My campaign, and the entire freedom movement, would not be as strong as they are today without a free Internet, and that’s just one of the reasons why the establishment hopes to censor it with SOPA and PIPA. I’m proud to see so many taking a stand today.” ~ Ron Paul

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErAXHyxlrd0[/youtube]

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Stop SOPA and PIPA http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/stop-sopa-and-pipa/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/stop-sopa-and-pipa/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:17:47 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1203

The future of the internet’s freedom is at stake. The internet is perhaps the greatest example of spontaneous order and voluntary exchange and cooperation left in mainstream society. Do not give up your freedoms so carelessly, especially when it is in the name of supposedly protecting your security. Please take a few minutes and watch this video about the ramifications SOPA and PIPA would have on the internet if passed and signed into law.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDX8Lyl16Qs[/youtube]

Ron Paul and Nancy Pelosi are among the members of Congress who strongly oppose this legislation.

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Ron Paul: Ideas, Liberty, and Rebuilding Civilization http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/ron-paul-ideas-liberty-and-rebuilding-civilization/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/ron-paul-ideas-liberty-and-rebuilding-civilization/#comments Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:03:57 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1176

"Liberty built civilization. It can rebuild civilization." ~ Ron Paul

"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government." ~ Ron Paul

 

“We must change our foreign policy from one of intervention and confrontation to cooperation and diplomacy.” ~ Ron Paul

]]> http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/ron-paul-ideas-liberty-and-rebuilding-civilization/feed/ 1 The Part of the Declaration of Independence Politicians Won’t Quote http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/the-part-of-the-declaration-of-independence-politicians-wont-quote/ http://davidkretzmann.com/2012/01/the-part-of-the-declaration-of-independence-politicians-wont-quote/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:20:44 +0000 http://davidkretzmann.com/?p=1167

“All experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” ~ Declaration of Independence

This is not something you will hear politicians like Mitt Romney and Barack Obama quote. The Declaration of Independence is an incredible document with unmatched dedication to the ideals of individual liberty, yet too often the core substance of the document is left unnoticed and rarely mentioned.

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