Don Watkins from the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights:
From the Voices For Reason blog:
Although the Tea Party name adopted by the protesters evokes images of the American Revolution, there is, at present, no basis for comparison. The American Revolution was fundamentally an intellectual movement–a revolt against the anti-freedom ideas motivating Britain’s treatment of the colonists, and, most importantly, a revolt for the idea of individual rights. These radical new ideas about what government should and should not consist of were enshrined by America’s Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence, and were the motivating force behind the revolt.
If today’s tea party protesters intend to spark any significant change, they need to understand that ideas drive change, and they need to advocate the right ideas.
11 Comments
April 10, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Another big difference, our founding fathers where perpared to die for their revolution. So far, we are not that far along, and I pray that we can affect change without needing to resort to this quote from Thomas Jefferson:
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
July 15, 2009 at 2:23 am
I hope you are right, but I think you are wrong. You have to wait until people are willing to die for their cause to truly see change.
Maybe you should read Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind; it embraces this principle and shows the consequences.
April 11, 2009 at 1:24 am
What we need to understand are the fundamental ideas that give rise to Rational Self-Interest, which logically lead to Life, Liberty, Property and the Pursuit of Happiness, which lead to lassiez-faire capitalism.
This is indeed a moral crisis between those that would sacrifice you and themselves in an altruistic destructive orgy as against those that seek to use their intelligence in their own self-interest in creating and producing goods and services they enjoy and deem beneficial to themselves.
April 11, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Great quote from Thomas Jefferson. I liked the post, J.G.
b.
April 13, 2009 at 3:14 am
Princibles are an indepenciable companion for all those who wish to make sense of life.Princibles can not hope to answer all of life’s problems. However, they do provide assurance that answers can be formulated.
Do to the lack of Princibles, this administration has proven its’ self incapable of learning from its’ mistakes, or able to craft intelligent policies.
Thus are created the conditions that are resurecting the TEA PARTY.
I’m for
INDIVIDUAL, LIBERTIES, FREEDOMS, VALUES, and PROPERTY RIGHTS
This is the foundation apon which my PRINCIBLES are based.
Thanks every-one for your Thoughts, Efforts, Time, and Attention…………..Mark for “Farm Logic”
May 18, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Principles can not hope to QUICKLY answer all of life’s problems.
April 15, 2009 at 3:48 am
Mr. Slater.
Thank you for your interview with Don Watkins. Mr. Watkins offered some provocative, fresh and important ideas about solving the economic, political and, most important, ethical problems that Americans face today.
Please have more shows with commentators from the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights.
Joseph Kellard
July 7, 2009 at 4:57 pm
My hope for the Tea Party movement (which is probably not as cohesive as it needs to be to call it a movement at this point, but this post is about hope for our future) is that it is about illuminating current lost individual (and state) rights and working within the current political system to bring about a recovery of those rights.
The majority of the fundamental ideas have been pioneered for us in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
The federal government has circumvented the Constitution originally through interstate commerce rulings by the courts, but now they act as though there is no such document as the Constitution.
It served as the roadmap for the creation of our government.
Hopefully, we can use it as a roadmap to get back to having a government that ONLY does what we the people NEED it to do and nothing more.
If not, then there’s always revolution.
July 7, 2009 at 7:51 pm
We need an organized peaeful demonstration for change similar to The civil Rights movement march to DC & The million man march. Tea parties are good But not enough. A massive demonstration of millions & millions of Americans to DC will do the job.
July 15, 2009 at 2:26 am
Thank you for stating what I see. The tea parties are not enough. It is still people complaining to someone else to change their circumstances for them. Complaining to the same people who contributed to us getting into this mess. We have to wait until people are ready to do it for themselves.
October 10, 2009 at 5:44 am
This fight has been coming for a long time now and the American people are rapidly come to 3 options.
Or government No longer listens to WE THE PEOPLE.
They lie, cheat and steel or money to fund there own interests!
I think if the people don’t scream, yell and demand change now by the Millions soon we will be forced to fight for the very freedom that is taken for granted.
1; a major tax revolt, this would scare them and send ripples through the halls of power in Washington, but it would take millions of us to do it?
2; holding on till 2010 and voting these bums out of office.
3; and the worst of all of them is a revolt against a corrupt government, this is by far the worst option of all, this fight will be in our yards in the streets and all over America,
I hope and pray that this kind of fighting for Freedom never comes back to this country, that I Love and have protected as a veteran.