On the new Facebook-like online social networking service created for freedom lovers, Tea Party Community, a poll was published which asked respondents: Which of the following major changes would most curtail tyranny?
Three changes which would admittedly be very major were listed:
(1) Amend the U.S. Constitution to expressly forbid the practice of taxation (thus eliminating one of the alibis politicians use to justify extortion).
(2) Amend the U.S. Constitution to eliminate legislative branches (thus eliminating the possibility of new man-made laws which go beyond simple self-evident natural law).
(3) Amend the U.S. Constitution to expressly forbid voting (thus eliminating the possibility of tyranny by a majority of voters).
A simple hypothetical question any professor of political philosophy might pose in a classroom, right?
However, not all respondents took it hypothetically. Some of the supposedly freedom-loving respondents reacted as if their very being had been threatened, leaving comments like:
"If you are serious about the second and third choices you are scary."
"Absolutely no tampering with the constitution!!!!"
"Not one of those is acceptable to me."
"This is stupid."
Such comments, and others like them which all tend to defend the U.S. Constitution in its present form, show an almost insurmountable obstacle which libertarians would have to overcome to make progress toward the true political freedom of mankind: the U.S. Constitution is widely worshiped as an idol.
Nonetheless, remember ... the entire population of the Roman Empire were idol worshipers before Christianity took hold. So nothing is impossible.
And just as some Romans were willing to hear the possibilities which Christian evangelists offered, so some respondents to this poll were willing to actually consider the question. Which of the following major changes would most curtail tyranny?
The poll is still open and the numbers might change, but as of this writing those willing to consider these three possibilities for eliminating tyranny have answered as follows:
(1) Forbid the practice of taxation ....................... 60%
(2) Eliminate legislatures ...................................... 33%
(3) Forbid voting ................................................. 7%
It seems voting is still an enormous sacred cow, even among those open to change. The human ego likes to think it has an input in matters, and voting offers at least such an illusion of individual influence if not a modicum of actual input. If libertarians in their eagerness to promote the progress of mankind toward true freedom spend their time arguing against voting, they will not create much success at this time in history.
Maintaining legislatures is probably not so much an ego-vested interest as a perception problem. People just cannot yet see another way. They are not yet able to "wrap their minds around" how things would work without needing new laws.
The results of this poll seem to be showing that if libertarians really want to be effective in nudging the human race toward true political freedom, their most likely chance of success will be in selling the idea that society would be much more prosperous and fulfilling for everyone if the practice of taxation were eliminated.
And while working , as a possible lead-in to opening the minds of others, consider using this very effective answer to yet another question which people might pose:
"Why are you a libertarian?"
"Because I'm not an idol worshiper!"
To understand the insane psychology of modern "liberal progressives," read Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged."
"God's laws will keep your minds at peace, because peace IS His Will, and His laws are established to uphold it. His are the laws of freedom, but yours are the laws of bondage. Since freedom and bondage are irreconcilable, their laws CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD TOGETHER. The laws of God work only for your good, and there ARE no other laws beside His. Everything else is merely lawLESS, and therefore chaotic." -Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles
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