Free People are Still the Greatest Threat to Tyranny

Acton Institute ^ | 9/26/2013 | RAY NOTHSTINE

[markomalley]

There is little doubt that we will see more Sen. Ted Cruz like broadsides against Washington’s power structure. Obamacare might be the straw that broke the camel’s back when it comes to ceding power to Washington. A point that was made Ad nauseum during Cruz’s 20 hour plus talk fest on the Senate floor is that what he did matters little. Nothing would change from a legislative or a procedural standpoint. While I think that’s true for the short term, the credibility of the Republican leadership in the Senate may have taken a fatal blow. To see what that means for those fighting for conservatism and limited government check out Matt Walsh’s excellent post on National Review Online.

It was a definitive moment for the triumph of principle and that imagery matters not just to liberalism or the statist but for conservatism too. Every battle against collectivism doesn’t require an immediate victory but it does require a victory for principle. Most Americans know the federal government is broken. They sense there is something fundamentally wrong with the political leadership and the direction of the country. Despite America’s culture of escapism through entertainment, there are still millions of people paying attention. They don’t want to become what Alexis de Tocqueville warned in Democracy in America, as nothing more than “a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.”

Political infighting and procedure aside, the larger point is an important one. We are increasingly arriving at the point where we will see more and more public show downs against the federal government by those constituencies that know it is broken, out of touch, and corrupt. The result of more and more centralization and federal control over our lives inevitably exacts push back.

Walsh’s point at NRO is that the Republican leadership in the Senate is just the first victim of the grassroots broadside. It will be interesting to see how the battle over power plays out and the biggest obstacle indeed is the secularism of society. Secular cultures demand centralization and planning in their futile attempt to perfect society. And while the federal government continues to expand in its already bloated form, it does so with great risk. More and more people will take notice and the bigger it is, the harder the entrenched power structure could come crashing down.

[Rocky]

The Grand Old Party isn’t grand; it’s just old.

[Paladin2]

Kentucky doesn’t have a Ted Cruz somewhere within the State?

[Paladin2]

Gelding Offal Party.

[freedom462]

I just don’t know how many free people there are who are under 30, like me. Looking around at the majority of people my age actually does throw me into severe, chronic depressions and so I can only even think about it for a few minutes at a time at most.

[vpintheak]

G:Garish
O:Old
P:Pansies

I’ve not felt this kind of disdain for the republiCANTS in a long, long time.

[Graewoulf]

Impeachment file on Harrison J. Bounel, aka Barry Soetoro, aka “B. Hussein Obama.”

[VerySadAmerican]

The perfect solution would be for all the career politicians to be removed from office. Plus, every dime they were paid over the years taken back from them, stop their pensions and pay them a small SS check like the rest of us.

[nascarnation]

I find your post interesting because that’s the impression I get.

Want to live the “Life of Julia” rather than embrace the American ideal of success.

[TBP]

Which is why both parties try to restrict our freedom of speech and communication as much as they can.