Liberty Maven

If Ron Paul won last November he could have easily started his inauguration speech with the following quote:

The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C’s interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man.

- William Graham Sumner, “The Forgotten Man“

Sumner effectively describes the agitated state of America’s overlooked citizens in 2009 even though his words were penned in 1883. These are the people you see walking and driving to work every day after dropping their children at school. These are the retirees taking up a hobby after working for themselves and the State for their entire lives. These are the stay-at-home mothers and fathers keeping the house clean and the children fed. They go about their daily routine with hardly a complaint nor a frown.

Well, they used to.

Apparently, there is something of significance to complain about now. They are tired of being overlooked and looted. They are tired of working about half the year to fill the government’s bank account and see little in return. They are tired of their political leaders promising the moon and delivering nothing. They are tired of the lies and subterfuge. They are worried that the standard of living their children will have to endure will be more akin to Cuba than to the America they once knew.

Sumner elaborates on these ignored members of society:

There always are two parties. The second one is always the Forgotten Man, and any one who wants to truly understand the matter in question must go and search for the Forgotten Man. He will be found to be worthy, industrious, independent, and self-supporting. He is not, technically, “poor” or “weak”; he minds his own business, and makes no complaint. Consequently the philanthropists never think of him, and trample on him.

For many, the trampling is no longer going unanswered. The Forgotten are demanding to be noticed and remembered. They are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore!

They are sounding off without pause:

“I’m a human being GOD DAMMIT! My life has value!”

Yet those in power and their acolytes scorn such demands as extreme. The Forgotten are merely asserting their natural rights much like our Founding Fathers did back in the late 18th century. If the principles of America’s founding have no place in today’s debate then America ceases to exist. America is not merely a a piece of land between two oceans. It is opportunity born from liberty.

Thinking of this as a struggle between Republicans and Democrats is like playing in a meaningless game. It snatches a branch, but misses the root. The struggle is over the nature of America’s soul. That soul was constructed around a simple idea, that we have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There is nothing crazy about it.

Taking something from one group of people against their will and giving it to another group of people is not noble. It is not liberty. It is theft, pure and simple. There is no gray area.

Sumner sums it up:

There is no pressure on A and B. They are having their own way, and they like it. There is rarely any pressure on D. He does not like it, and evades it. The pressure all comes on C.

The question then arises, Who is C? He is the man who wants alcoholic liquors for any honest purpose whatsoever, who would use his liberty without abusing it, who would occasion no public question, and trouble nobody at all. He is the Forgotten Man again, and as soon as he is drawn from his obscurity we see that he is just what each one of us ought to be.

The forgotten majority are beginning to crack open their eyes. They are a sleeping giant and the alarm is going off. Barack Obama’s honeymoon is officially over and the bill is now due. Who will pay for it?

For once, let us demand it not be us.

Let us be remembered.