Free and Protect: What’s that you say?
I believe the words “Free” and “Protect” should serve as a basic blueprint for making decisions in our day-to-day lives individually, as well as a blueprint for decision-making in our governmental bodies (state and federal). In order to further explain this philosophy, consider the following examples:
- Economically, I believe the free-market should be protected from excessive regulations; otherwise the basic principles of the free-market will be rendered useless.
- Governmentally, I believe citizens should be afforded every ounce of freedom and liberty granted to them in the Constitution. The Constitutional rights of citizens should not only be protected, but guaranteed. The federal government must understand that they are to play a limited role in the lives of its citizens; especially economically and socially. The federal government should keep in mind that their job is to protect the citizens through the utilization of the military and other security forces, and observe the freedoms afforded by the Constitution as mentioned above. The founding fathers meant for the states to have the ultimate power when the Constitution could not provide an answer to a dilemma. However, more times than not, federal legislators are finding ways to bend and twist the original intentions of the founding fathers in order to serve up their own agendas. Our federal (and state) governments should bear in mind that the more legislation they produce, the less freedom the citizens enjoy. Therefore, stop contriving new and unnecessary laws, and start abolishing old and unnecessary ones!
- Morally, I believe that the state and federal governments should keep in place laws that protect the citizens from those that may be considered morally or ethically challenged. However, citizens should be left to their own vices as long as said vices do not negatively affect their fellow citizens. Case in point, in Oklahoma I can buy liquor on Saturday, but not on Sunday. This is just another example of the government forcing their moral values upon the citizens.
- Individually, I believe that we can all use the philosophy of free & protect to our advantage in our personal lives. For example, as a husband my primary goals should be to contribute/support financially for, protect the welfare of, and provide social freedom for my wife and children. I should not seek to limit their personal/social freedoms. I should not fail to protect them from harm (be it physical or psychological) at any time.
As you see, the principles of Free & Protect can be applied across the board to every aspect of our personal and professional lives. In the coming days/months/years I hope to provide further examples of adhering to these principles as well as examining failures by our peers and governmental bodies to provide freedom and protection.
Tags: economics, government, morality, politics
