LETTERS: GOVERNMENT THREATENS CIVIL LIBERTIES

To the editor:

Thomas Jefferson observed in 1788 that "the natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." This has been amply demonstrated in recent years. Washington uses the threat of withholding funds to ensure that state and local governments follow its rules. This is dangerous. It gives the federal government control over all aspects of our lives. Our state and local governments are beholden more and more to the federal government. This is the reason why more and more of our liberties are being swept under the rug. Not only is the executive branch using this weapon to run our lives, but congressmen, who are supposed to be representing our interests in Washington, are using these threats also.

Where does the federal government get all this money they threaten us with? It comes from the local taxpayers. This money could be put to greater advantage in our states, counties and communities if left here. How we run our local business should have nothing to do with Washington. We can handle our local problems well enough without that intervention. Not only is it a threat to our liberties when Washington is involved, the cost is just too much to pay monetarily. Washington has plenty of hangers-on with their hands out for a portion of the take. Just think of how much we could do without providing a living for them.

The federal government's involvement is wrecking civil society. Not only is it taking money from the local area, it also is destroying local pride. We must have pride in our communities if we are to combat our problems. The government does through coercion what we would be doing through voluntary action. The next time a congressman tells you what he has done for you, ask him where he got the money to do so and if we could do a better job ourselves with that money.

Tom Palmer of the Cato Institute states, "No challenge is more serious today than the restoration of civil society. Pundits cite violent crime, family breakdown, the waning of some traditional institutions, blighted inner cities and a decline in civility, honesty and trust as evidence of a crisis in civil society. And few topics have received as much attention in recent years as this one. Politicians and pundits on both left and right have attempted to exploit the theme for their own purposes, which often hinge on expanding governmental powers to manipulate citizens in order to attain whatever outcome the manipulators desire. The impulse to do so, however, if fundamentally at odds with civil society as it has been commonly understood for centuries."

The distinguished historian Antony Black has stated, "We may identify the central ideal of civil society as personal independence, and its central imperative as respect for persons."

JAMES NALL, Chairman

Bollinger County Libertarian Committee

Marble Hill