Genesis of the "NO" Logo

In history there have been two basic forms of social organization: collectivism and individualism. In the 20th and 21st century, collective variations have included socialism, fascism, Nazism, and communism. Under collectivism, a ruling class of “intellectuals”, bureaucrats, politicians and/or social planners decides what people want or what is “good” for society and then uses the coercive power of the State to regulate, tax and redistribute wealth in an attempt to achieve their desired objectives. Individualism is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes individual liberty, belief in the primary importance of the individual and in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence and responsibility. It embraces opposition to controls over the individual when exercised by the state. The Preamble to our Constitution makes it plain that all power rests originally with the people, as individuals.
The “O” within the circle represents collectivism in its various forms. The “N” represents an emphatic repudiation of collectivism. The red, white and blue circles encompassing the “NO” are emblematic of our Republic. It is the responsibility of the individuals in an engaged and enlightened republic to limit the influence of the government, especially one that attempts to wield power outside the boundaries delineated by the Constitution.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Health care as a "right" is not in the US Constitution

The "living Constitution" that Democrats and their court appointees have given us may be the death of our freedoms. Their constitution adapts to the times and serves the whims of the elitists. The Constitution is supposed to limit government powers. It does not allow government to do anything it feels like doing.

Ayn Rand is one of my favorite authors. She was born in Russia and lived there during the time of the Bolshevik revolution. She lived during the reign of Lenin and experienced the horrors of the "collective" state. Most of her writings reflect her loathing of collectivism(or statism or whatever label you choose). One of my favorite books written by her, and one that is hard to come by, is entitled "Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal". In the appendix of that book, she has a section entitled "Man's Rights". In this section she describes the dominant ethics of mankind's history as variants of the collective doctrine, which subordinated the individual to some higher authority. These included the "Divine Right of Kings", the theocracy of Egypt, the unlimited majority rule of Athens, the welfare state run by the Emperors of Rome, the Inquisition of the late Middle Ages, the absolute monarchy of France, the gas chambers of Nazi Germany and the gulags of the Soviet Union. She contends that the United States was the first moral society in history in that all previous systems had regarded man as a sacrificial means to the ends of others, and society as an end in itself. The US Constitution regarded man as an end in himself, and society as a means to the peaceful, orderly, voluntary co-existence of individuals. The US held that man's life is his by right and that the only moral purpose of a government is the protection of individual rights. The government's function in the US was changed from the role of ruler to the role of servant. The government was set to protect man from criminals - and the Constitution was written to PROTECT MAN FROM THE GOVERNMENT. The Bill of Rights was directed against the government as an explicit declaration that individual rights supersede any public or social power. The progressive vision of a "living" constitution subverts this original intent of the Founding Fathers.
Posted by Enlightened Republic at 1:37 PM