During This Election Cycle...

[OlDawg]

I thought I'd humor those who choose to read with some of my thoughts on this fine morning.

As anyone who reads my posts is aware, I'm not big on political parties. I consider myself a conservative libertarian. I believe in free markets and free people. I believe in individualism and personal liberty. My personal belief is the current political parties have long ago left their purpose of serving the people, and exist now only to collect power and stay in power. They exist to protect themselves, and the power they have--and can--accumulate. These are their primary drivers.

The future of our--and our kids/grandkids--way of life seems to have been turned into nothing more than a sporting event by the two major parties. They've minimized it to the point where we can literally gamble online about the future direction of our country. As a cynical view, I'd think they were doing it on purpose to simplify, divide, and distract.

With that said, I thought I'd post some quotes from one of my personal, favorite thinkers. If you've never heard of her, I'd recommend a quick look at some of her thoughts. If you have heard of her--but it's been awhile--it may be a good time to refresh your memories on some of her thoughts.

No matter which Party you choose, I'd hope that some of these quotes strike a nerve, help remind us all of what's made America great, why she was founded, and what can be accomplished when our freedoms are actually unleashed.

I'll step off my soapbox, and hope the below quotes are meaningful to everyone in some way. If you feel it's worthwhile, please post thoughts and/or quotes that are personally meaningful to you as they relate to our current political atmosphere. It would be interesting to me to see where people stand--aside from the specific headlines discussed in other threads. I'm curious if we all aren't closer in our beliefs than what we may think, or further apart.

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All quotes are courtesy of Ayn Rand

• America's abundance was created not by public sacrifices to the common good, but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America's industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages, and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way.
• Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).
• Socialism is the doctrine that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that his life and his work do not belong to him, but belong to society, that the only justification of his existence is his service to society, and that society may dispose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good.
• Whoever claims the right to redistribute the wealth produced by others is claiming the right to treat human beings as chattel.
• It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master.
• Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others.