I mandags havde han fødselsdag. Nej, ikke dén Frederik – denne her Frédéric:
Disse ord skrev han for knap 200 år siden – de kunne ligeså godt være skrevet i går!
Tidens vildfarelse er at alle bliver rigere på bekostning af hinanden; at almindelig plyndring udbredes under dække af at ville forhindre det. Legal plyndring kan foregå på uendelig mange måder. Derfra stammer alle de talløse regler og forordninger: Told, konkurrencebeskyttelse, skattefritagelse, frynsegoder, subsidier, progressiv beskatning, ‘gratis’ offentlig uddannelse, ret til arbejde, ret til profit, ret til løn, ret til hjælp, ret til redskaber, ret til kredit osv. osv. Det er alle disse love og forordninger der, samlet set, har den legale plyndring som fællestræk og som betegnes socialisme.
I går fejrede amerikanerne uafhængighed af det britiske imperium. Et storslået eksperiment der i lang tid stod som et lysende forbillede for, hvordan man kunne indrette sig uden at være undersåt. Man kan diskutere hvor folkeligt oprøret mod den britiske kongemagt var, og hvorvidt kimen til borterosion af de individuelle negative rettigheder allerede var indbygget i deklarationen. Forfatningstillæggene illustrerer at nogle var opmærksomme på risikoen for, at man erstatter en tyran fra et andet kontinent med en tyran ganske tæt på.
Andrew Napolitano, via antiwar.com:
Is there more freedom when governed by one tyrant 3,000 miles away or by 3,000 tyrants a few miles away?
…
The Declaration of Independence is an indictment of King George III as well as a manifestation of limited government and maximum individual freedom. Though the final version dropped some of Jefferson’s more bellicose language, the document as we know it is largely his – not only his lofty language but also the three principal Jeffersonian values that it manifests.
The first of those values is natural law. The natural law teaches that our rights come from our humanity and our humanity is a gift from God. Jefferson recognized this when he wrote that we are all created equal and endowed by our “Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
…
At the outset of the Declaration, Jefferson appealed to “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” He could have appealed to the British tradition of individual rights. He could have appealed to the Magna Carta. He could have appealed to numerous acts of Parliament that stated – but pretended – that all men are equal and their rights are natural. But he didn’t. He appealed to the natural law.
…
The second Jeffersonian value is the consent of the governed…
The third Jeffersonian principle is that the proper role of government is not to give the people whatever they want but to protect their natural rights. Moreover, Jefferson wrote, whenever the government – even one consented to by the governed — is destructive of natural rights, the people may morally alter or abolish it.
That was July 4th 1776. On July 4th 2025, the Jeffersonian principles that animated the just war for secession called the American Revolutionary War have all been discarded. Think about it: Do you know anyone today who has consented to the monster government we have today? A government that claims out of its own belly that it can right any wrong, regulate any behavior, tax any event, steal any property, transfer any wealth, borrow any amount and kill any person — foe, friend or imagined foe?
Lyt også til denne episode med Tom Woods og Kevin Gutzman om Independence Day.
Den danske regering er ikke helt så farlig (for dem udenfor Danmark!) som den amerikanske. Men det er ikke fordi den er forskellig i sit (u)væsen – kun fordi den ikke kan konfiskere de samme ressourcer som den amerikanske, målt i absolutte tal. Om det danske regime lykkes med at fremme endnu mere centralisering i Europa i forsøget på at rejse et europæisk imperium vil måske afsløre sig under det kommende formandskab.
Den største trussel mod folks ve og vel er som regel deres ‘egen’ regering.
Giv dig selv eller dine nærmeste et eksemplar af Bastiats Loven. Fås her i butikken for 37,50. Du kan også læse den i børnebogsversionen:
