Foundations

These first few posts will establish the foundations for future discussions. In order to have rational discussions, participants must have an accurate map of reality which provides the context for the discussion. Having accurate maps are necessary to understand the terms being discussed.

Moral Responsibilities

The first rule for the preservation of man is to uphold moral principles. These moral principles are found in the Declaration of Independence which are:

The right to life
The right to liberty
The right to own property
The right to pursue happiness

This country was founded on the moral principles of individualism and independence. All rights in this country are strictly defined as rights of action. All other rights are negative meaning one cannot violate the rights of others. At the same time the bill of rights establishes what the government cannot do to people.

It should be recognized that wealth creation and economic prosperity are the result of protecting the rights of individuals to plan, produce, and trade in a truly free market. Failure to protect these rights by dictating prosperity for everyone through redistributive policies and market manipulations is the destruction of real property rights, which is the right to keep what one earns.

Property rights dovetail into the right to pursue one’s own happiness, which is the pursuit of knowledge, wealth, and dignity through one’s own efforts. To think independently, act voluntarily, to produce, and to benefit from the results of those efforts is the natural state of man and government interventions into these moral principles destroy the real rights of man. The corollary to this is that redistributive policies are incompatible with individual liberty.

Capitalism, in its simplest terms, is based on the idea of property ownership. People have the right to think, act, earn, produce and keep the results of their efforts. Capitalism is a system of private ownership, private control, and voluntary interaction.

Socialism, in its simplest terms, is government control of the means of production in which government owns the factories and exerts omnipotent control over the economy.

Today it isn’t uncommon for people to refer to the term “mixed economy” when describing our current economic system. This means a mixture of private ownership and government regulation of private enterprise and market manipulation.

To explain further our current system has a mix of economies such as socialism—Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (entitlements). There are cases in which government has partnered with private industry such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and the proposed nationalization of some banks and healthcare. There are also cases of government subsidizing business and price and interest rate fixing.

Understanding these concepts lays the groundwork for future discussions on many topics about man’s current moral, political and economic condition.