America

The Value of Individual Liberty

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So many times I have written about the “precious jewel” that is liberty. I’ve written about how to preserve it, it’s importance, and it’s value, and once again I wish to discuss this “noble subject”, as it is called by Thomas Gordon. As I continue to try to explain just how valuable liberty is, I continue to run into the same problem, one that Gordon also encountered. As I try to explain it, I notice that “language fails in it, and words are too weak.” Nothing I say or write can do any justice to the precious gift and blessing that liberty is and express how valuable it should be in our lives, but I can do my best to try.

There were and are a countless number of people who would give anything to preserve individual liberty. As everyone knows, Patrick Henry even said, “give me liberty or give me death!” And he was not the only one who felt that way. Not only this, but people lived they’re entire lives dedicated to liberty, giving up their lives in a different way. What other intangible gift has had such an effect on mankind that would cause them to die, or live, just to preserve it? I can think of very few.

Those who are governed by liberty are those who love their neighbors and strive to help not only themselves, but all those around them. Liberty is being free to do whatever you see fit as long as you don’t intrude on another’s liberty. What a wonderful society that would be to live in! Where everyone loves and trusts each other and loves and cherishes liberty.

Liberty is not a past gift that we can never obtain. It is not something we learn about in history books and old journals. Liberty is priceless, beloved, and one of the most important gifts we have been given today. “Give is that precious jewel, and you may take everything else!”

I know it is impossible for me to fully express the value of this jewel, but I plead with you, strive to understand it, for it is one of the most important things to understand. Strive to value it, so that you may be willing to fight for it. I promise you, it is just as relevant to do so today as it was 250 years ago, if not more so.

“We, who enjoy the precious, lovely, and invaluable blessing of liberty, know that nothing can be paid too dear to preserve it” -Gordon

Yours truly,

Publius

Selflessness is a Virtue

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One of the prime characteristics of a tyrant is selfishness. A tyrant will do anything to ensure he has the power he desires, even if he must harm the lives of others. However, what I want to write about today is not selfishness, but selflessness. Too often today we hear the terms, “but I want…”, “how does that benefit me?” or, “why should I?” People are so caught up with sustaining their own desires that they forget that others needs might be more important than their wants. In Livy’s The War with Hannibal, he talks about a fearless tyrant named Hannibal who would stop at nothing to gain power, and his army, as it says, was “willing to submit to Hannibal’s orders, to supply him with guides and provisions, and to offer hostages as a guarantee of their good faith.” They followed him blindly because it benefited them, even though it greatly harmed others. Though it is difficult, we must learn to put our own wants aside so we can do more for others who need it. For example, we all have something many people do not, we know of liberty and its importance, so we need to use that. I will admit, sometimes it gets hard to take time out of my day to read or write about these things, but the things I would rather be doing will make no impact and have little to no importance. Taking a little time out of each day to read about these important truths, though maybe not your first choice, will eventually benefit the lives of you, your children, and their children. What you choose to do now will impact the lives of so many others. Much like what I said in last week’s entry, we might not obtain complete liberty within our lifetimes, but we can do so much for those who will come after us and they will be so blessed because of the sacrifices we make today, even if we can’t see it yet. Yes, it is hard, but as Tacitus explained, “the crowning proof of their valor and strength is that they keep up their superiority without harm to others.” Your true character is shown when you can be the best person you can be without harming, and might I add, with helping others in the process. As I close today, I hope you will look toward the examples of those who I mention almost every week, those who fought for liberty so many years before us, who sacrificed so much for us without thinking of themselves. As we learn to be selfless as they were, we will be blessed beyond comprehension for all the good we can accomplish when we put our unimportant desires aside.

 Yours truly,

Publius

Patience Truly is a Virtue

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We have all heard the phrase “patience is a virtue”, usually said in casual, witty circumstances, but have we ever stopped to think about what that really means and what knowledge this simple statement may hold? I have mentioned from time to time one of my favorite quotes, “there is no liberty without virtue”, and if patience is a virtue then we need to recognize that we cannot have liberty if we have no patience. This virtue is one of the many that have been lost in the past few years and people seem to continue to lose more patience with different parts of their lives every single day. Personally, it is growing more difficult to be patient with others and even just with what I’m trying to focus on at the time. Today, it is becoming more common to be less patient because people have stopped fighting it. People are losing patience with close family members and friends, with work, and more importantly, with learning. Knowledge does not come easy, and definitely not quickly; we must be patient as we work toward obtaining a greater desire to learn and the knowledge that comes from that desire. The knowledge that is truly valuable cannot be taught from a textbook, it comes from continually searching and studying the words of the men I mention almost every week. Benjamin Franklin taught, “He that can have patience can have what he will.” Liberty is not something that can be obtained within a week, or a year, we need to be constantly striving for it in order to obtain it. If we can teach ourselves to have the patience everyone had 250 years ago, we can and will restore the liberty they fought for all those years ago. Every day people miss opportunities because they are so used to not needing to have patience. Please, don’t lose patience with the things that are most important in your life, because then, you will lose those things that are most important in your life. Trust that if you continue to fight for what is good and virtuous, it will come eventually. If it is virtuous, it will come!

Yours truly,

Publius

Pursue True Liberty

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In Alexis De Tocqueville’s book, Democracy in America, he cautioned, “[l]et us not be mistaken about what we must understand by our independence. There is in fact a kind of corrupt liberty, the use of which is common to animals as it is to man, and which consists of doing whatever you please.” I would not call this liberty, but false liberty. It is the enemy to true and moral liberty. There are many who will try to convince you that you need to be able to do whatever you wish without any consequences in order to be free, but that is why this false liberty is so dangerous. This causes wickedness, instead of virtue, and ignorance, rather than wisdom. Even Algernon Sidney advised, “for being careless of their liberty, or unable to govern themselves, were by Aristotle and other wise men called slaves by nature, and looked upon as little different from beasts.” Both of these men realized that if we are not wise enough to care for our own liberty, or the liberty of others, we become slaves and there is not much that sets us apart from the animals. Real liberty allows others to govern themselves, while still being subject to the consequences that come if they fail to do so correctly. It is a blessing that benefits everyone, rather than a curse that destroys. It is doing whatever you please, without harming the life, liberty, or property of others. This, as Alexis De Tocqueville says, “is the liberty to do without fear…This holy liberty we must defend at all costs, and if necessary, at risk of our life.”

Do not be fooled into believing that your circumstances prevent you from being able to fight for what you know to be true. Everyone on this earth was blessed with the ability to discern right from wrong, and that is all you need to restore personal virtue which is what leads to true liberty. Finally, I want to once again remind you of the incredible examples from the past that we can look to to accomplish this. I beg you to read the words of Algernon Sidney, Alexis De Tocqueville, Cicero, and other amazing men; do not just take my word for it. Study the words of these men, and you will know for a surety that what we write is true. They valued liberty more than anyone and now we must get it back.

Yours truly, 

Publius

Hope for the Future, Because of the Past

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It can be discouraging looking back at all the incredible things the men and women who came before us were able to accomplish and what they sacrificed for us, yet we wait here idly for someone else to fix the many problems that we face today. I often think how they became the people they were and what more I can do to become like them and what I can do to restore the united states of America to what they used to be.

Fortunately, Alexis De Tocqueville said, “If it were possible for us to go back to the elements of societies and examine the first memorials of their history, I am certain that we would be able to discover there the first cause of the prejudices, dominant passions, of all that ultimately composes what is called the national character”, in other words, if you go back to a nation’s roots, there you will find what makes up that particular country and what its potential is. When I read this, it gave me great hope because though we may not have an abundance of liberty today, at one time, we did. The men who formed this country were men who loved liberty, and who, as William J. Watkins, Jr. said, ” ‘observed that they were duty bound to defend their liberties’ and ‘to hand them down to future generations.'” Most men at that time, actually did not want to become independent from Great Britain; however, they knew their responsibilities, and that they needed to sacrifice everything they had to make sure they fulfilled those duties. So if De Tocqueville is right, then we have great cause to rejoice because we have the potential to be just as they were then. They fulfilled their responsibilities,  defended their liberties, and passed them down to future generations, and even though we do not have most of those liberties today, we should never feel discouraged. They gave us an assurance that we can restore those liberties in the future if we put worldly desires aside, and take up virtue, knowledge, and courage. The united states of America were “‘led to greatness by the hand of Liberty” and unfortunately are “now forging chains for her Friends and Children'” but that is not how it has to stay. I promise you, restoring liberty is not a lost cause, it will happen! If we fulfill the duties we have now, liberty will undoubtedly be restored.

With hope and joy,

Publius

You Are Not Alone

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Every time we publish an entry each week, we try to envision the lessons we are attempting to teach but in all honesty, we have no idea what you learn from each entry. Everyone’s perspective is completely different and there’s no way to fully know how to get the same message across to each person, however, we hope you all have this in common, we hope each of you can feel the importance of the things which we write about. We realize it may be difficult to acknowledge the significance of these principles because if you do, you have a duty to use the knowledge you now have to protect your liberty, and the liberty of everyone else, and that is a hard thing to take on… we get it. But remember this, you are not alone. There are many others around the country today striving for the same thing you are, and there are even more from the past, cheering you on, knowing that what you’re doing is right. Remember all those who came before us, those who sacrificed everything for their liberty and your liberty. They would not have given their time, money, and even their lives if they did not firmly believe liberty was worth saving. Cling to the examples of your ancestors and the people who live today who all strive for change. It wasn’t and isn’t easy for them, it isn’t easy for us, and it won’t be easy for you but Henry B. Eyring said “If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill.” Look around you, there are so many people climbing up the hill with you, and there are also those who already climbed the hill, and they are anxiously waiting to show you how great the view is. You are not alone. You will never be alone.

 

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Have Courage to Do What is Right

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“The secret to happiness is freedom, and the secret to freedom is courage.” -Unknown 

It seems to me that every human being has a desire for freedom. They may not know exactly what that freedom is, or they might look at “freedom” with a different meaning, but the desire to be able to control your own life is always there. However, everyone also has a desire to be safe, or to gain things of the world. Often, the latter desire wins. Precious liberty is exchanged for the things of the world which will one day be useless. It takes courage to be able to trust that the fight for liberty will be worth it in the end. It is hard to give up the gifts a tyrant hangs over you but ultimately, it will be worth it. A tyrant is clever… he deceives you into believing that you need the things he has to offer you because, if you rely on him, you allow him to control over you and to make you do and allow terrible things you would never have done or allowed to be done otherwise. Don’t be fooled. The happiness you think you might gain from diamonds or rubies, is nothing compared to the happiness you will experience when you obtain liberty. Have the courage needed to stand up for what deep down, everyone knows is right. Then will you be able to unlock the precious jewel that is liberty and unlock true happiness. 

Putting Everything in Its Place

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Algernon Sidney asks a question that makes everything easier to understand. “Did the people make the king, or the king make the people? Is the king for the people, or the people for the king?”

It’s not hard to see that a king, does not make the people. However, we can decide if the king will be for us, or the other way around. If we obey every command of the “king” whether he be virtuous, or whether he push virtue away, whether he does good, or evil, still we follow him blindly, then we have made ourselves for him. We have made ourselves his slaves. A slave is meant for his ruler, to do everything he says despite the ruler’s qualities… is that what we want to be? Because that is not what it’s meant to be. 

If we obey the king, only when he rules with virtue, and inside the boundaries we’ve set for him, then he will be for us. He will protect us and serve us. A tyrant wants you to believe that you are to obey his every word, no matter what, but that is not the case. Our duty, is to make sure we do not make ourselves subjects to the king, otherwise we have made ourselves slaves.  A king is meant to make us freer, not the other way around. A king is meant to keep us safe, not put us in danger. A king is meant for us, we are not meant for the king, and let’s strive to return it that way. 

With highest hopes,

Publius

Lex Malla Lex Nulla

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Latin is language highly ignored by the General American public. Somewhat surprisingly, the same could be said for the American constitution. The phrase has been repeated throughout history in a variety of ways, most famously, “an unjust law is no law at all.” Unjust is defined by not based on what is morally right. Thankfully,  every person is born with a moral compass with which they can judge the world with. However, it is up to each individual person to decided to follow what that compass says or not.

   But how does this relate to the Constitution? Today, Americans are accustomed to ignoring the moral superior if the other option gives them more “free stuff“. The politicians are ignoring the fundamental laws stated in the American Government’s foundation. We, as citizens under the American Constitution have the right, the privilege, the responsibility to ignore unconstitutional laws. If we succumb to the tyrannical leadership, if we continually give up our freedoms, what’s to stop them from taking it a step further?
   Is this not the people’s government? That’s how it was proposed, at least. Actually, the government is doing a very good job of representing the majority of Americans. The public could easily be described as unvirtuous, lazy, uneducated, and many other choice adjectives. Is that how you would want your home country to be described? I, for one, feel ashamed. America – the great, the beautiful – now resorted to people who don’t know what their rights are.
The people must stand up if they want their government to stay virtuous. The constitution is the law of the land, don’t forget it. Just because a law is passed, doesn’t mean it’s correct.
Rise up, people of the nation.

Yours truly,

Publius