Thoughts on the times...

Saw this article today, and thought to myself, "Hey! this is good."

I know I am a crazy libertarian. But I keep seeing signs that the erosion of our liberty is speeding up every year. Sometimes I feel scared.

To think that the cops in any state would be on the lookout for domestic terrorists, having the profile of a Ron Paul supporter, or (gasp!) a believer in the Constitution chills me to the bones. That is me folks.

When I see all that is going on with the financial bail out, I just see government getting bigger and more powerful. Not that I have the slightest of how to solve our collective economic problems. If I had read and studied more I could possibly advocate some position. And maybe I've been brainwashed enough that the idea of doing nothing, and letting the market adjust on it's own just seems too radical to me. That's what a true libertarian would want though.

From a historical perspective, the only conclusion I can draw from what I see around me is that we are headed ultimately for:
- empire / dictatorship
- aristocratic (big business) rule
- pure democracy (which our country is NOT at present, by the way)

None of these options is good for individual rights. Which to me seem like the best standard by which to evaluate the powers of a government. Are rights violated? That's bad. Are they protected? That's good.

What rights exactly need to be protected? A summarized list:

freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition the govt., bear arms, privacy, due process of the law, just compensation for property taken by the govt., a speedy and public trial

and

freedom from: unreasonable search and seizure, excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishment and having soldiers stationed in your house without your consent

These are listed in the Bill of Rights, but there are even more. Amendment 9 basically says, "Just because a right isn't in this list, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

So you can see how from that perspective, what's going on today in our country (secret surveillance, socialization of the economy, torture...etc.) seems very 1984. (an awesome book that everyone should read!)