As we move on from Day 1 in this series of quotes from our Founding Fathers, we come to Samuel Adams, second cousin to John Adams and a major architect of the American Revolution and in helping to shape the political culture of the young country.
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“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”
This quote holds particular significance for us today, as so many seem not just fine with the ever increasing amount of government interference in our lives, but eagerly demanding it.
Government is force of the most powerful kind. It has complete authority to legally threaten and initiate violence against its own citizens, with a vast army of officers empowered to use various methods of enforcement, up to and including the lethal type.
Nobody believes we don’t need government, it’s a necessary evil that exists to protect our rights and enforce laws that allow a free people to prosper and thrive. We should be very wary however of the powers we grant to it.
This brings to mind another quote by Gerald Ford, often wrongly attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but still no less true.
“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.
Or more simply, be careful what you ask for….
Freedom Through Empowerment 
I’ll drink (a Samuel Adams) to that!
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Lol Al, me too, cheers!
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Love that Gerald Ford quote. So true.
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For some reason I always thought Ronald Reagan said it but it was Ford.
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I just shared the quote on Facebook.
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Excellent, thank you!
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excellent…and I think he’d then ask us to raise a glass in honor of this newly found nation—and of course that would be the beer bearing his name 🙂
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Indeed he would, cheers Julie!
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🍻🍺
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There are only two types of government which are needed: that of our Creator, as He Himself taught, and the self-government of people who are responsible and accountable (to Him, if no one else) for their actions. All other kinds of government (the mandatory, human kind) are very much an unnecessary evil: the root of which is the unholy desire of people to control other people. The government that we have today in America neither protects our rights nor enforces _just_ and necessary laws (if indeed humans can write such). Therefore, we do not thrive and prosper. God provided and provides a better way: His Way of liberty.
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Well that’s an interesting comment Nathan, thank you. Are you saying you think there should be no government, or just in theoretical sense if we lived in a perfect world where men were angels and all that? I ask in all sincerity.
I’m a pretty limited government type of gal but do believe there needs to be some governing structure in place.
I think we do thrive today, in many ways our Founders could not possibly have imagined. But I do agree we’ve strayed far, far away from the ideal of a self governing people following God’s way of liberty.
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I respect what courageous work you are doing here. However, I must push back against this point you make:
“Nobody believes we don’t need government, it’s a necessary evil that exists to protect our rights and enforce laws that allow a free people to prosper and thrive. We should be very wary however of the powers we grant to it.”
You write that “nobody believes…”. This is written as an absolute. How do you speak for anyone but your own self? Why do your beliefs of government decide for me what I believe of government? Why would you WANT the responsibility of choosing for me what I believe?
I must stand with Nathan in that the root of all immorality and evil is the desire to control other people. By what legitimate authority can you decide for me how I live my life or what I believe?
I will posit that the belief that “there needs to be some type of governing structure in place” IS the reason government becomes so pervasive in our lives today. So long as individuals continue to cede their own sovereignty up to other men, there will always be abuse in the use of power.
What is government but a monopoly on the use of force? What is government but groups of men given control of a system where they may violate the zero-aggression principle without consequences for that violation?
Any system built out of coercion and the monopoly on the use of force will always degenerate into monstrous violations of personal property rights and voluntary associations.
You may make whatever arguments you wish out of consequentialism (“But men are not angels, perfect, etc” “How will we survive without SOME governance”). I say that whatever consequences do not matter if we build communities based on voluntary associations and moral objective truth. Yes, there will always be people who thirst for the unearned, there will always be people who desire control over other peoples lives. And those people will always be attracted to pick up the “reigns of power”. This is WHY we need a free society built upon inviolable private property rights and no violation to the non-aggression principle.
Mama Liberty of [https://thepriceofliberty.org/] wrote once: “Just remember that the desire/lust to control the lives and property of others is the root of all evil. It is the root of all non-voluntary government. It is the total goal of every politician, bureaucrat and far, far too many others.
So, as you read the “news” and consider the near future and coming “elections,” measure what is going on against the desire they all have to control YOU, your family, your business and your children. Don’t let the rhetoric of their false “intentions” blindside you.
It would be well if we would all keep in mind that the core of all this evil is the desire/lust to control the lives and property of other people. Getting rid of the FBI would be a good start, but it won’t happen as long as the general population believes that any non-voluntary government has some legitimate authority over them.”
And may I point any interested readers toward a resource that might help you to further your understanding of the foundations a free society could be built upon. Stefan Molyneux has done great work at de-programming the belief that we need government in several of his books: [https://freedomainradio.com/free/]
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Hi Brandon, thanks for dropping by and for your thoughtful comment. I stand corrected on my “nobody believes in no government” statement. I just assumed this was so, but you obviously don’t agree with that as well many others now that I think about it. I don’t want the responsibility of choosing what you believe, I have enough trouble figuring out what I myself do. 😉
I do get a lot of what you’re proposing, it echos a lot of what Rose Wilder Lane writes about in the “Discovery of Freedom” which I thoroughly enjoyed. I’m not familiar with Molyneux though and would be happy to read up on his stuff.
I’m a firm believer that we live in a fallen world and as long as this is so people need some form of government structure to live by. There are several passages in the bible that reference systems of government for God knew men will continually turn away from him and thus some governing force is needed to protect the sheep from the predators.
Now unfortunately much of government is made up of the predators themselves, which the Founding Fathers also knew and so organized the political structure of their young nation on the central premise that government must be limited and that the people rule it instead it raking them.
My problem with people just living freely under no particular system is that people can really suck. While it may not be a majority, there will always be many who abuse their freedom and extend it right in to and over the line where other people’s noses begin and spoil it for the rest of us.
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Thank you for your reply, Tricia.
You state “governing force is needed to protect sheep from the predators”. Why? Government, by definition, is a monopoly on the use of force and coercion. Government is the use of force and involuntary association rather than peaceful negotiation and voluntary association. Can you explain to me how that could ever help protect the so-called “sheep”?
As for “the sheep”, why is anyone else responsible for their well-being or protection? That sounds like a somewhat statist point of view. As self-owners, we are responsible for solely our own choices and actions- with the consequences thereof. I never want the responsibility of deciding for others how they should live their lives.
You state: “unfortunately much of government is made up of the predators themselves, which the Founding Fathers also knew and so organized the political structure of their young nation on the central premise that government must be limited and that the people rule it instead it raking them.”
Yes, of course! When you give men the power of coercion and force over other men, it will always be abused. Therefore, we now live in an up-and-coming statist nation, rather than this idealized “limited government”. And if it were limited- does that make government acceptably immoral? Is only full-rape immoral, but limited-rape is moral?
By what legitimate authority do any of the founding fathers speak for you and your life? Did you consent to the articles denoted on that parchment 200 years ago? How does that parchment confer legitimate authority to someone who would rule over you?
Do you own your life? Or have you given your sovereign authority over your life alone to bureaucrats, rulers, and politicians?
If you consent to be controlled by the constitution, or the bureaucrats who would rule your life, you may freely do so without my blessing. The issue we have is when you then feel empowered to enforce such a choice onto me, when I have never consented to be ruled. And when that choice is enforced on me at the point of a gun.
If the limited government you speak of is controlled by the people- the consent of the governed- then why is not consenting not an option?
You state that: “My problem with people just living freely under no particular system is that people can really suck. While it may not be a majority, there will always be many who abuse their freedom and extend it right in to and over the line where other people’s noses begin and spoil it for the rest of us.”
I never spoke of life under no particular system. I specifically stated “This is WHY we need a free society built upon inviolable private property rights and no violation to the non-aggression principle.” Yes, there will always be people who seek to do wrong, abuse other people, and initiate force. That is why we have the Non-Aggression principle. If someone initiates aggression against you or your property, you have the choice to take whatever self-defense measures are called for.
If we do live in a fallen world, and there are always people intent to do evil, how does giving certain individuals extreme power over others with the coercion and force of government make any sense? Those individuals will always be attracted to the reigns of power.
MamaLiberty of [https://thepriceofliberty.org/] once wrote: “Unfortunately, the government indoctrination centers called “schools” for the last 100 years or so have convinced a great many people that they are also entitled to live at other people’s expense, and to control other people through their “votes” – as well as with their constant social blackmail and, ultimately, government force.
The non-voluntary government can’t help but get worse and worse. The very nature of non-voluntary government is to obtain and maintain, grow if possible, the total control – power- over every person and everything else. Government has no other role, goal or purpose in reality. And that won’t change as long as the people they control continue to believe they should control others as well, thinking that the government they believe they control has any legitimate authority. A truly vicious cycle.”
Despite disagreeing with you foundationally, I respect what courage you have to speak up for freedom, and I am grateful that you and I can have this discourse and make our cases. I appreciate you taking your time. Thank you.
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Oh I always appreciate civil discourse Brandon, it’s the only way to learn and grow. We do indeed disagree foundationally, but don’t get me wrong, I agree with much of what you say about the nature of government. I just think it’s a necessary evil though, albeit in the most limited form possible would be my preference. What we have today is a mess and nowhere near ideal.
I don’t think much back and forth between us would accomplish much and alas as I am back at work today and taking off for the weekend, I have very little time for the blog world right now.
Thanks again for coming by. Do you have a blog site I can check out later?
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Enjoying this series, Tricia, thanks
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