There are millions of educated slaves.

Nice theory, unfortunately incorrect.

Nicole: The isolated American mind, incapable of understanding thge difference between slavery and conventional regulation of behavior, claims that anything less than the right to do anything at all is a form of slavery. Slavery exists in the world today, where millions upon millions of people are truly enslaved by totalitarian governments. Slavery is not characterized by a requirement to govern oneself by certain rational rules of conduct. Freedom to act in any way at all is a distortion of reality, truth, and the concept of freedom.

Bloated stinking demagoguery.

Go George!

In human terms true, but only this side of Paradise.

Define freedom of expression. Does it mean the freedom to express anything at all? I hope not.

First there was God, and afterward came man, who created government. So who screwed up? I say it was man.

Bingo!

Reston: The difference between socialism and Sam Adams is that Sam envisioned men actually working in order to receive the blessings of Providence, while in many so-called socialist nations, men work as little as possible, knowing they will get paid only as much as others, because they have become enslaved by totalitarians. Ben Franklin apparently was also against unbridled ownership of property for ownership's sake. But he was not a socialist. Marx wrote: "My objective in life is to dethrone God and to destroy capitalism." You can't dethrone God, but you can persecute those who worship God, which is a gross violation of rights common to socialist states. And the freedoms enjoyed by men are more often enjoyed under mainly capitalist systems. So, Reston, why don't you travel to China, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, and get a little close-up experience with "socialism."

Interesting choice of words. Seems to condemn those who prefer wealth above liberty -- but today they are often practically synonymous in a real sense.

Sam does seem to contradict himself here. Perhaps it might have been more precise to say "The right to freedom being the gift of Almighty God, it SHOULD NOT BE in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave." But even then Taylor has a valid point. I suppose that in some future man will be smart enough not to make the same mistake.

You are all looking quite well - for slaves.

Liberals tend to be socialists. Socialists tend to be gullible and/or criminal. Socialist ideas that seem rational tend to be those used to promote socialist ideology, in general, used as a screen to hide the basic evil nature of socialism. Rehashed old ideas may still seem new within the context of generations that have not commonly considered them. An idea that has been around forever, but which I have never heard before, seems completely new to me.

A nice thought, easier said than done. Judges and executives like to make law. Legislators like to pander. The Congress will argue about anything, except about the immense automatic pay raise given every year to the Congress by the Congress. And Congress is immune from many laws.

Those who govern too often prefer ignorance in the people.

Although what Reston says also makes sense, I believe that Thomas Paine meant "civilized society" when he said "society;" that is "civilized society" as opposed to our society.

Why, thank you so much, Archer. Coming from you, that is almost a compliment. And in the third week of my presidency, I would get shot to death.

In the second week of my presidency, I will put all ablebodied social assistance recipients to work, eliminate income tax for individuals earning less than $40,000 a year, and cause all Americans and alien residents to swear to defend and protect the United States Constitution, or otherwise be branded with a question mark on the foreheador exiled. By national referendum, we will choose two or three regions where no laws will exist, for all of you who believe they aren't necessary, and relocate you to one of those regions. Sale of illicit drugs outside of those regions will be punishable by forced relocation to one of those regions. Rape will become punishable by removal of the gonads and both thumbs. The borders will be sealed by every means. No immigrants will be admitted, except through approved channels. Anyone committing crimes in the name of any religion will be forced to watch and/or listen to recordings of clergy of the opposing religions for no less than twenty years, 18 hours a day. Couples will have to attend thirty hours of class sessions before being allowed to marry and have children. And if all that does not work, we will give the land back to the Native Americans and jump off cliffs into the sea like the lemmings we are.

Good question. Elect me president and I will abolish the IRS, make the socialist and communist parties illegal, and run the UN and the OAS into oblivion. And that would be just the first week.

Archer: People are already "shootin' and lootin' ", in case you hadn't noticed. If you have found some peaceful conclave in the idyllic depths of New York City, why not share the information. More people die per capita in Washington, DC, than in Iraq. On a slow day, 50 are murdered in the USA. Drunk drivers, or those under the influence of one drug or another, kill many others, and they call it vehicular manslaughter. It is a crime, and a failure to meet ones responsibility, to engage in an erroneous freedom to get high, when it results in death, injury, damages, or other serious consequences to the victims of the idiocy of those who insist upon engaging in a freedom that is not a freedom. We the "free People" have simultaneous responsibilities to one another and to ourselves. Try to ignore that (which I would bet that you don't), and you already know where you will reside for a long time. I did NOT write that that to be responsible for yourself is to be anything at all. You continue to distort at will, which is another sign of illness or depravity. I wrote what I wrote, which appears above, and which does not resemble what you have deceivingly presented. I am not insinuating but simply stating.

Basically, Archer, what your response insinuates is that your distorted liberty to do as you please takes preference to a persons genuine right to security against the misdeeds of an unstable, aggressive person, who believes he should do as he pleases. That type of liberty is worthless, except to anarchists and sociopaths.

I did NOT write that all laws are legitimate. But we have responsibilities to the society in which we choose to live: stop when the light turns red; don't drive too fast in school zones; don't shoot your neighbor, not even by accident; little things like that. And I did NOT write about forfeiting a right for having disobeyed a law but for having failed to comply with a responsibility. If you fail to comply with your responsibility of being careful behind the wheel, and it results in a death due to your negligence, you should forfeit something. To suggest that we have no responsibilty toward those among whom we live virtually is to forfeit our right to security in our person among them.

I am not referring to assumed rights but to legitimate ones. All people should enjoy all of their rights and comply with all of their responsibilities. Some of our legitimate responsibilities are the subjects of legislation, since some of our compatriots refuse to comply with them. You should forfeit some right for each legitimate responsibility with which you refuse to comply. Freedom does not mean being free of responsibilities. And equality does not mean having the same as someone else. It should mean having the chance to get there, given a fair set of social circumstances; for example: the right to compete for a job regardless of your ethnicity or skin color. No one should enjoy a right to pick your pocket. Mike: What are you talking about?

The American generally is too busy working, playing, and stuffing his face to realize that anything is amiss.