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Wolfe For Office Liberty, Reason, & Compassion

If I were running for office... These are my thoughts and views on all things related to politics, policies, and government.

• Hi! My name is Darrell Wolfe. I am an independent Christian writer and Multipotentialite, with Libertarian leanings. 

• I've recently completed a multi-year transition away from the Grand Ol' Party (GOP) / Republicans, and I've left them for good. 

• I am now questioning every position, every ideology, every policy that I've ever espoused. 

• I am a writer, and I think more clearly through any topic if I write about it. This blog exists so that I can begin to think through our issues as a society. 

• I want to think through the important questions that affect us as a society, and vote for people and principles that will preserve our collective Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of happiness.

• I've been talking about these things with people for a few years now, and a few people have suggested I run for office. Maybe I will someday, but first I'd like to think about these issues for myself.

• IF you have not read them in a while (or ever) you should start any political conversation by reading:
• Constitution of the United States 
• Declaration of Independence
• Get The Constitution and Declaration of Independence For FREE! Order a pocket size of both to carry with you (HERE), from Hillsdale College. 

Feel free to poke around, check out the site, read some articles, share them with your friends.

• If you have a question or you want to add to the discussion, comment on any page or post. 
• If you want to contact me, you can email Me@DarrellWolfe.com.

And now... a deeper dive into Liberty, Reason, & Compassion:

In my humble opinion, there are three pillars that can guide every decision we need to make as a society. Let's explore the three pillars:

1. Liberty
2. Reason
3. Compassion

Liberty

Many Men and Women over the years have died for this crazy 200+ year experiment called "liberty". 

What is liberty? 

In short, liberty is your ability to act in your own best interest, without interference from other people (or the government), so long as it does not interfere with another person's liberty.

The Declaration of Independence said it this way:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

The founders were terrified of every form of government mankind had ever known prior to the United States of America (USA). 

Therefore, they started their own country to protect themselves (first and foremost) from rulers, kings, and government abusers of every kind. They created a system of, for, and by the people.

The number one enemy of Liberty (according to the founders) was government.

You should have the right to choose nearly everything in your life, as long as it does not violate another human beings liberty.

I recently heard it this way: 

"You are free to swing your arm in any way that you like. Round, down, up and over your head... however... your right to swing your arm stops just before it makes contact with my face."

The Libertarians call this the Non Aggression Principle (NAP). 

As long as you are not violating my body or property, I have no right to make you do anything, or stop you from doing anything. 

I have no right to use government power to force you to bend to my will, ways, emotions, religion, morals, etc...

This works both ways. 

Government has no business taking people's guns and homes away from them, it also has no business taking people's plants, herbs, or drugs away from them, and it also has no business telling anyone who they can marry, what they can eat or drink, what they drive, etc... 

It's just none of the governments business most of the time.

As my favorite 2016 Presidential Candidate, Austin Petersen, humorously said: 

“I want gay married couples to be able to protect their marijuana fields with fully automatic rifles."

Reason

As stated above, this nation was founded by people running from controlling dictators and over-reaching government entities... But they knew they needed SOME form of government. 

In any group setting, be that a study group of 10 or a country of 318 Million, there is a right and fair place to set boundaries so that the NAP is preserved, and nobody is hurt or abused. 

Therefore, the founders established a LIMITED government.

The Constitution of the United States starts this way:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

They knew some government was needed to keep order, and essentially keep people from violating the NAP. So they established a government, but put huge limits on it.

• Taxes (of various kinds) were written into the US Constitution as a necessary evil, but only to be used for funding those things that the society deemed NECESSARY for the government to involve themselves.

So why are our tax rates so high, and why are there so many taxes today? Because government over-stepped its boundaries.

Today, we must use REASON to determine when the government should step in, and how far it should go. There can be valid occasions for the use of government. 

Almost everyone would agree that murdering people should remain against the law. But what about guns, drugs, gar marriage, military enrollment, taxes, immigration... these are just some of the topics we have been debating about as a nation.

I am of the opinion that it's none of the governments business what you do unless you violate another person's life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness (The NAP Rule).

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Ronald Reagan

Well meaning people have created total disasters, endangered lives, lost lives, and imprisoned people for victim-less crimes... all in the name of Government.

If a decision must be made... what is the right level to make that decision?

Most of the decisions being made as a society should be made at the lowest, most local, level. 

• If the Federal Government does not absolutely have to, it should not make a decision, it should be left to the State.
• If the State does not absolutely have to, it should not make a decision, it should be left to the County or City.
• If the County or City does not absolutely have to, it should not make a decision, it should be left to the Individuals and Businesses to decide for themselves.

As a recent example:

Bathroom Laws 

The government has no business telling you who can (or can't) use the restroom. Let each store make their own decisions, and let them suffer the consequences (good or bad) of those decisions in the open free market. People will support or abandon those stores, and the market will decide. 

This means there should be NO law telling an entity to let it happen, and NO law to stop it from happening. No law. Not the governments' business. 

COOLIDGE: THE BEST PRESIDENT YOU DON'T KNOW (Prager U)

Americans today place enormous pressure on presidents to "do something"...anything, to get the economy going. There was one president, though, Calvin Coolidge, who did "nothing" -- other than shrink government. What happened? America's economy boomed. Is there a lesson to be learned? Award-winning author, historian, and biographer Amity Shlaes thinks so.

Calvin Coolidge is described as the Do Nothing President. That's what the USA really needs right now... is a president that will do nothing, unless that something is to get the government to do less.

Compassion

Compassion is the pillar missing from many Libertarian platforms. The Non-Aggression Principle (NAP) is important, but it must be balanced by Compassion.

If it is bad for a society to allow a man to go to beat or rob an elderly woman... it is just as bad for that society to ignore her poverty and let her starve.

This does not, necessarily, mean that The Government should step in. First and foremost, private organizations and people should be caring for their own communities. More good has been done for people by private entities than the government could ever hope to do.

We must seek out innovative ways to encourage private enterprises, businesses, charities, and individuals to step up and reach out to their own local communities.

The Strangers, Orphans, and Widows (SOW) must be cared for at the local level by the local level.


The Constitution of the United States primarily covers taxes, rules, and laws. But there is one line that stands out from the rest, that may apply in this area of Compassion:

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

Notice that the role of the Federal Government could be used to encourage things that were good for society (Arts and Science); but how was that encouragement to be utilized?

Liberty Preservation Rights: Intellectual Property Rights

The Federal Government had no right to tax you, and give your money to fund research projects about how much CO2 a cow fart produces. The Federal Government could encourage Liberty and Rights.

The original intent was that taxes could be charged for the sale of goods, but no tax could be laid directly upon an individual, property, or income:

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. (1787 AD)

Then 122 years after the original US Constitution was written, an Amendment (#16) was written to allow for direct (income) tax. Passed 1909 AD.

Just as the 18th Amendment (ban on liquor) was eventually over-turned, so should the 16th Amendment be over-turned. The use of income tax should not be a right of the Federal Government, nor should it be an answer to the need for Compassion.

Is there another way?

Sure... 100's, 1000's of ways. But we will have to figure that out as a society. We must have hard conversations about the future. It is not a scare tactic, just a fact, the current spending of the Federal Government through Social Care programs (Social Security, Welfare, and Healthcare) are unsustainable.

We cannot keep spending more than we make. Not as a person, not as a country.

But this is a nation of innovators, creatives, Multipotentialites... WE, together, can come up with solutions.

Just as some examples of what we COULD be doing...

#1 Consumption Taxes: 

In Texas the Lotto taxes funds are used to help fund public education. But the lion's share of those taxes go directly into administrator and bureaucrats pockets, and not to the teachers and students. The program concept was sound, the execution was not. This kind of consumption tax could be used, but re-directed to ONLY pay for the things it was intended (not a dime toward paychecks).

#2 Attention / Advertising Money 

Businesses use money to fund projects as part of their advertising budget. They help charities all the time. It's good for the society, and good for the business publicity.  Just the act of a politician standing up, with the power of audience, and drawing attention to the charities doing the most good for his local community, will attract investment/advertising income to those charities... without costing a single penny in taxes.

This was an introduction to the three principles, Liberty, Reason, & Compassion... 

I hope you'll join me on this journey to discover solutions for this greatest nation on God's green earth The United States of America (USA).

Darrell Wolfe
Story Teller | INFJ | Intellection | Learner | Ideation | Achiever | Input | Multipotentialite