Bastiat does it again! Right on. Waffler, there is no social progress if it is at the expense of others under threat. I think 'progress' is natural -- we produce, we grow, we build, we harvest -- if allowed to do so, progress is guaranteed. Politically though, the word 'progressive' means 'controlled' -- the 'progress' is the gradual transfer of personal responsibility to the state so that state bureaucrats can 'engineer' society to best serve, well, them and their patrons. Progressive liberalism is but the progressive growth of the power of the state -- period. It is the ultimate embracing of the Fatal Tendency, because these social engineers need to be paid (and paid well) and they do not know how to provide for themselves. So get with the program, everyone, it's for the good of all. ;-)

Indeed, right on.

"Security over political freedom ... caused them to see in the State, however conservative, a benefactor and a protector." There you have it. The politician's bread and butter. Liberty means responsibility -- that's why most men avoid it.

I would clarify it a bit, because people do agree to work in exchange for compensation. If the labor is by agreement, and the agreement is fulfilled by all parties, then it matters not the ratio of compensation of the laborer and the employer -- the contract was agreed upon and fulfilled.

Sounds like a religion to me -- requiring zealots to prop it up. Great comments above!

Whenever a politician talks about creating jobs, they usually are referring to government jobs -- the only jobs they can create. The private sector pays for the public sector, and in the US now, public sector jobs pay higher than private(!!). This is common with monarchical/aristocratic government models. When enough people work for the state, the rest become serfs bound in service to support the state. Wake up people...

Not just, Stalin, cal, but FDR and nearly every US president since, from both parties. Fascism is the de facto form of government now for the US.

This pursuit of 'justice' has indeed been the tool of the authoritarians to yoke us all. This perversion of the law from protector to predator is the true enemy. "Half-educated masses" indeed...

RBE, there is no such thing as the conscience of mankind.

Just like there is no corporate good will. The collective consciousness of mankind is but the sum of all individual consciousness. The 'Self' is not the group even though, yes, we are all interconnected. YOUR conscience is your own.

In a free republic you are considered to be personally responsible for acting in accordance with your own conscience. You may vote, serve on a jury, join military ranks, choose what crops to farm, choose what foods to eat. And what holds it altogether is the HONOR of the common man.

Such a life of sovereignty requires integrity -- and compassion since we all falter from time to time. BUT to intentionally be deceptive, knowingly steal or oppress, are acts of war. To defend oneself is not only a right but a duty to one's family. When we join together by mutual agreement to protect and defend each other's liberty, lives, and property, we do so out of our right to defend ourselves individually.

Such an agreement, voluntarily entered into, requires the conscientious judgement of its members to function. But none are given power that they do not already have, and none have given away any power in order to make this compact. What they have agreed to is a process of 'justice' designed to protect each other from each other. The purpose of the agreement to the rules is to prevent mob rule or military rule. We call this the 'law.'

RBE, collectivist rhetoric promotes the removal of all boundaries -- until we are all One. Philosophically, that is fine, but politically, yikes! The distribution of power is absolutely necessary for liberty, not the centralization of power. We cannot all drink from one stream. Are diversity and multiculturalism merely means to one world government?

This ultra-nationalism is fascism to the highest degree. And I suppose you know how all the world should now live in this borderless world? Holy F$%k! Just like the Russian Revolution, tear down the world -- mind you, half of the common people will be wiped out, the very folks you supposedly care about -- only to have a centralized military government end up in power. RBE, think of that globally, and you have your 'utopia.' Of course, you will be dead, but no matter, you will have served your purpose well. RBE, you may seriously need to take a look at the level of programming you are under.

To get rid of the Fed would mean World War -- the other nations whose populace are also under the thumb of the fiat central bankers will come to learn the same system has been foisted upon them. The whole world will be at war -- but the media will not ever reveal the real reasons. If the Chinese people ever figure a way out, there may be hope for the Western world -- but until then, ever the pressure builds on the fault line ...

Straight shooting.

Yes! And with such a declaration, the line is drawn in the sand. Then you will know your enemy, as those in support join you and those in opposition face off.

Making the declaration leads to taking the stand -- all those that have been laying claim to you will start to whine, and some will show up to collect. Only those that have declared their freedom really know the extant to which their fellow man is enslaved. John Adams referred to this independent spirit as "the American mind." Has America lost its mind?

Breaking the yokes would not be necessary had we not put our children into them to begin with and taught them to obey their masters.

Perhaps Robert should also take into context the amount of land these wealthy men laid claim to -- millions of acres. Jefferson was not talking about taxing a man's farm or homestead or his labors. Why is it that whenever liberals talk about taxing the property of the rich, the middle class take the hit? Jefferson was for equal inheritance, not state inheritance of private property.

How much is too much? I understand that Ted Turner owns a quarter of Montana (and more). Something has got to give...

Mike, I like your take on this, "Man's servants, representatives, and deputies have no rights, but duties and obligations only."

Robert, classical liberalism and progressive liberalism differ in a fundamental way -- particularly with regards to your proposed 10 commandments. Are these principles or statutes? The Golden Rule is a 'rule' not a 'law'. Adhering to the rule voluntarily for its own sake is a far cry different from enforcing a 'statute' no matter how well-meaning. One way empowers the individual, the other disempowers him for the good of the 'group'.

As fundamentally important as the Golden Rule is, if it became the Golden Law to be enforced by men, there would be no greater tyranny. It is as it has always been: who is responsible for the condition and quality of my life? If I am not pointing to myself, I am likely socialistic/collectivistic in my thinking.

Socialism is no longer hiding as 'liberalism' or 'progressive' -- we are feeling the Bern' and 25% of Americans are all for it. How the hell did we get here? !

Well said. A solid definition of collectivists. Collectivists start to speak for 'we' when they talk about some group. Collectivists err when they keep rolling more groups into a single group - ultimately the 'world' -- which you can expect anyone of them to refer to the world as 'we.' Then will say what 'we' should do.

I am an American, but I am not the US government -- I do not refer to the government as 'we.' The teams I join, I join voluntarily, and if I am but a thread of the tunic, then so be it, that is what I agreed to. But membership in groups to which I have not agreed to join is void, and I am not one of them. No sooner than a group is formed than someone wants to start telling them what to do. I never signed up for that.

I suppose we are all in agreement. ;-)

The spirit of competition is also the desire to excel, to be the best I can be. HOW we compete, determines what kind of a people we are. Honor, integrity, and compassion still play important roles while 'playing.' Monopolies spend most of their energy trying to keep competition at bay and protecting their market rather than innovating. Guilds form in the fields of medicine, law, education, manufacturing, even political parties -- all designed to keep the power in their hands. Enough so that they influence the legislature to make laws that require the people to pay for their services (at usually a very high rate) whether they want them or not. Any new innovation that challenges their power is quickly condemned and efforts made to shut it down and brand the actions of the competitors as 'criminal.'

Considering that the US has more people in prison per capita than any other country in the world is a perfect example of this. Americans are also sicker than most other countries, and pay enormous prices for 'health care.' The internal combustion engine is very inefficient -- attempts to employ cheaper more efficient means of producing energy have been met with extreme prejudice. Lawyers are beholden to their guild, and may only practice the commercial law they have been certified to practice -- any effort to return to a common law practice will end up getting a lawyer disbarred. Doctors that prescribe natural remedies can also lose their license. An apple grower may not advertise that apples are good for your health without being sued.

Any innovator in these fields can expect massive opposition at every turn. To hell with whether the new product is better -- if it threatens a doctor's or lawyer's union, expect violence towards the 'offender.'

It is a grave mistake to simply generalize the 'poor' and the 'rich' in opposition to each other. This is precisely what the rulers promote to keep the people blaming each other.

It's the man behind the curtain!! Sheesh wake up, progressives! You are being used (because the lower classes are kept dumb) and easily manipulated by propaganda. Where is there capitalism? No where except in the free market -- of which, there is less and less. What is being ignored is the SYSTEM of debt as money -- a Western central banking tactic -- that is in fact trying to take over the economies of all the world, the Middle East being the last to fall into line as they still use gold as money and where usury (charging interest on debt) is forbidden in Islam. Wars are a product of the central banks, which can print up all the money in the world (and essentially have).

Stop blaming the rich! Blame all the government employees and corporate employees that regulate human labor as if inter-state commerce. By defining people as commercial entities, people are subject to reams and reams of commercial regulations that were never intended to be applied to individual citizens laboring for their compensation.

The game is fixed! It is rigged in such a way that the more productive we are, the more debt we hold. It is just one giant Ponzi scheme. And this is what the wars are really being fought over -- the final control of the world's money supply by a handful of central bankers who end up holding the debts of the entire world in their hands!!!!!!! If the 'poor' really understood the system that oppresses them, and knew who the players really were, the revolution would begin.

Americans need to turn off the boob tube, and think, for a change. Hypocrisy has become so universally acceptable, that we have no honor upon which to keep firm our free republic.

BE SPECIFIC! The rich or poor are not the enemy, as there will always be someone with more and less, always. The enemy is the SYSTEM and all those that make their living from it -- YOU very well are part of that system if you act in accordance with it and demand that everyone else does to.

Take some GD responsibility!! Stop pointing the finger at someone else other than yourself, Robert! NO problem was ever solved by blaming others. Stop feeding the beast -- fight!

I may be yoked and tied, but I don't ever have to believe that such a condition is just.

Robert in Europe, your comment flies in the face of every post you have made praising socialism. Perhaps you "live in hope" that one day fascism in America will be perfected so that all your do-gooder policies can finally be forced upon an ignorant people. Robert calls for totalitarian rule over the people constantly for 'compassionate' reasons. It is just more of the same -- quest for power to shape the world in the way YOU believe it should go.

The last line of defense against bad laws are the consciences of the JURY who judge both law and fact. INTEGRITY of our system of jurisprudence is what is lacking, not the conscience of the People. The Golden Rule is still golden -- either you are a practitioner or not. Nature is self-correcting -- as you sow, so shall you reap.

This is one of the reasons we chose to homeschool our children. Today, as college students, they are much more mature than their peers, very conservative with spending money, very responsible for themselves, very compassionate and helpful -- they come from a place of wholeness and independence, and are even a bit too eager (in my opinion) to serve their fellow man rather than their own personal interests (they are still young). People tell us that we have done a great job with raising our children, but I say the children deserve most of the credit. There is a difference between 'teaching' and 'facilitating' -- children aren't 'taught' anything, they 'learn' or they don't. Getting an education is not a ride one goes on like a passenger on a bus. Education is being put in the driver's seat of all kinds of vehicles with all the manuals, maps, and books written about the roads and the cities along the way. This is what other people have 'learned' about the world -- we still have to discern and evaluate for ourselves. Self-determination with honor, integrity and COURAGE is the modus operandi of the world traveler. We are in a perpetual state of discovery -- it doesn't really end...

So, true. Do young Americans care about liberty, independence, honor, integrity, and real compassion for their neighbors? Where has the 'American mind' gone?

Explains the Russian Revolution well. The biggest advocates for socialism have been from the upper middle classes, well-to-do, well-educated in social work -- in general, people who produce nothing but words, rules, policies for others to follow, lengthy judgments, and influence peddling. They would not waste their time growing anything to eat or building something of use -- they focus on how others have to work hard for little, and how the State should be the ultimate authority and regulator of life from cradle to grave. They have got it all figured out, and have studied well the techniques for mass psychology. The power they wield is for destruction only -- they do not create, they steal, keep the best, and pay their followers with the rest. It is war on personal responsibility in the name of the 'right' to be dependent.

Absolutely. But Hamilton screwed the people with the introduction of a central bank controlled by the same folks who controlled the central bank of England, and the rest of European central banks. What good is sovereignty if beholden to foreign powers?