Maybe it’s because my favorite week of the year, FreedomFest, is literally just seven days away. Maybe it’s because I recently watched the film “Braveheart.” Or maybe it’s because my favorite novel is “Atlas Shrugged,” which I’m trying to read in my embarrassingly underdeveloped third language, Spanish.
Whatever the confluence of reasons, I’ve had my liberty lenses on as of late, and I must say, they don’t like what they see.
Let’s start with the latest story of government infringing on liberty, and that is the passing of a bill by the Texas House of Representatives outlawing all forms of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which in case you weren’t aware, is the intoxicating substance derived from hemp. The real liberty-deprivation here is that this decision comes six years after that same body legalized it.
And what was the justification for the reversal of liberty here by a state that supposedly reveres its independence and whose unofficial motto is “Don’t mess with Texas”? If you guessed the tired old tripe of “protecting our children,” then you are correct. In fact, here’s the justification straight from the horse’s mouth, and in this case, the horse is Republican Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick:
“Since 2019, retailers across Texas have exploited a state agriculture law to sell life-threatening, unregulated forms of Tetrahydrocannabinol to Texans, including children… These stores which often target children with their marketing have popped up across the state, threatening the safety of our communities.”
How many times have you heard this before as a reason to restrict the free choice of adults engaging in their pursuit of happiness, as they see it? I submit to you the list of liberty infractions in order to “protect our children” are far too numerous to list.
Your editor in his studio reading, “La Rebelión de Atlas”
Fortunately, not all Texas politicos want to mess with your liberty. State Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat from the free-spirited and proudly weird city of Austin, called the repeal “the nanny state at its worst.”
As Rep. Talarico said on the Texas House chamber floor, “Instead of regulating this booming industry in our state, we are now going backwards to the days of prohibition. This bill is not going to stop Texans from smoking weed or eating edibles, just because a bunch of politicians in Austin tell them not to.”
Precisely correct. The so-called “war on drugs” is nothing more than a war on liberty, and the sooner we can abandon these archaic and freedom-restricting rules on America, the better and freer America will be.
Unfortunately, the Texas decision here amounts to a mere microaggression when compared to the biggest and most egregious recent example of liberty restriction by government. Of course, I am speaking here about… tariffs.
Tariffs are taxes on Americans that are incompatible with liberty, full stop.
Tariffs have been imposed on Americans by fiat from the president of the United States, who has decided that tariffs are what the country needs in order for us to become great again. But how, I submit, does the imposition of higher taxes on goods that Americans freely choose to import and to purchase, constitute a way of enhancing liberty and making things great?
The answer is obvious, because the answer is they do not, never have, and never will. To impose a financial penalty on Americans engaging in the pursuit of their own happiness is the precise opposite of letting freedom ring and of making our country great.
I proclaim this righteously, because the reason why America is great is because it is the first and only country founded on the sanctity of individual rights, as in the individual right to pursue one’s own happiness free from the magisterial edicts of a ruler.
So, whenever you contemplate the tariff issue or any issue where individual rights come under fire, I encourage you to take a Jeffersonian approach. That approach consists of fixing reason firmly in her seat and calling to her tribunal every fact and every opinion.
Then, question with boldness the essence of these restrictions on your freedom… and relinquish not your liberty!
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Because You Can…
“Peace is a space you move through very rarely, and very briefly — but you’re not allowed to stay there. You have to keep moving and go do what you do. Because you can…”
–Neil Peart
In my musically learned opinion, Neil Peart of RUSH was both the greatest drummer in rock and roll history AND the greatest lyricist. Not a bad way to live a life, if you ask me. I’ve written about what Neil means to me, and my one personal interaction with this icon, which you can read about here in my January 15, 2020, tribute.
I bring you this quote today, because though I try to cultivate a sense of peace within as frequently as I’m able, whenever I find myself ensconced in this peace I tend to become restless and in need of movement and just doing what I do. And because I can, I will.
Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote that you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Jim.
In the name of the best within us,
Jim Woods
