Gold and Freedom
This article by Jacob Hornberger from the Future of Freedom Foundation, is by far the best article I have read this year on the nature of our current economic situation in the United States and the reason behind our current economic fiasco. I highly recommend you take the time to read it in it’s entirety. It is the MUST read of the year – every American should understand what Government has done to our money….
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Gold and Freedom
By Jacob Honberger
Among the major threats facing the American people today is out-of-control spending at the hands of the U.S. government. It is a grave danger that people have faced throughout history from their own governments. After all, let’s not forget the oft-repeated claim by U.S. officials about how they brought down the Soviet Union — by causing the Soviet government to spend itself into bankruptcy and ruin.
When the Framers were deliberating over the Constitution, they were fully aware of the dangers to people’s freedom and well-being posed by a profligate government. As British subjects, they had experienced firsthand the ever-increasing taxes imposed by their king to finance his ever-growing expenditures. As revolutionaries, they had also experienced the ravages that come with the inflation of a currency to finance government expenditures. That’s what “Not Worth a Continental” referred to. As citizens living under the Articles of Confederation, they knew the damage that irredeemable paper money can bring to a society.
The first thing to keep in mind about the Constitution was its dual purpose: to bring into existence the federal government while, at the same time, protecting the nation from it. While the Framers understood the need for government, they also understood that that same government constituted the greatest danger to their freedom and well-being.
Thus, by its own terms the Constitution limited the powers of the federal government to a small number of powers that were enumerated in the document. To make certain that U.S. officials got the point — that the federal government was considered to be the greatest threat to the freedom and well-being of the American people — our ancestors demanded quick passage of 10 amendments to the Constitution. Naming the federal government as the primary threat to their freedom, the Bill of Rights expressly prohibited U.S. officials from infringing fundamental rights and expressly guaranteed important procedural protections as a prerequisite to searching, arresting, incarcerating, or otherwise punishing people.
Our ancestors realized that not only was the U.S. government the primary threat to such fundamental rights as free speech, freedom of religion, peaceable assembly, and gun ownership, it was also the major threat against personal wealth or private property. That’s why, for example, the Bill of Rights expressly prohibits U.S. officials from taking people’s property without due process of law or without just compensation.
This is a very informative article about how our Founders viewed “economics”. It contains a history of the steps taken by Lincoln and especially FDR to increase spending and promote inflation by eschewing “gold” as our form of monetary exchange. FDR actually confiscated gold at the beginning of his administration so that he could spend us out of the depression. I am beginning to understand how our govn. has ignored the Constitution through the years and how it continues to do so. What a disgrace! Tx for posting this, Jason.