America should push liberty, not authoritarianism

The Biden Administration hosted a “Summit for Democracy” in which 110 nations worldwide were invited to participate in this global virtual event. 

The U.S. State Department notes that the purpose of the event was “to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.”

The Biden administration lists on the White House website as among its priorities, “Restoring America’s Global Standing”.

But, what the nations of the world saw on display was the fractured understanding of America’s principles and its mission. It saw what American progressives want to impose on the rest of the world.

The State Department noted that one of the aims of the summit was a phrase from the preamble to our U.S. Constitution, “to form a more perfect union.”

But the nations of the world are not a part of a union, as our states are part of a union, bound by a constitution. The nations of the world are autonomous nations, each marching to their own drummer, trying to live, and, hopefully, thrive towards a goal and together on one planet.

The State Department should have picked a much more relevant phrase from the Constitution’s preamble. 

How about this one: “to secure the blessings of liberty.”

Liberty is the point.  And I am sure it is no accident that the Biden Administration chooses to focus on democracy and not liberty.  

To appreciate the basic difference, we can turn to our Declaration of Independence because it says among our inalienable rights are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  

The Declaration then continues, “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.”

The priorities of this administration are not the priorities or the principles of liberty, the principles of liberty on which our great nation was founded, precede government.  Men form government to protect their liberty, not to bestow it or deny it.

But liberals, oh, they love power.  They don’t love liberty. So, they want to grow the type of government that imposes their values, their world view, on everyone here in America, and everyone abroad.

And it’s a great irony that when the State Department said that the theme of the summit was to one – identify itself addressing and fighting corruption, to defend against authoritarianism, and to promote respect for human rights. You gotta be kidding. This is an irony.

Because authoritarianism is about government, authoritarianism is about government imposing itself on individuals, what else can we call it? 

What does the Biden Administration call it when government takes over an increasingly large percentage of our national economic activity?

In the year 2000, the U.S. government consumed 17.7% of our GDP. In 2020, this was up to 32%. 

And now, with the passage of that additional trillions that Democrats are trying to move into law, the percent of our economic lives taken over by government will ratchet up another several percentage points.

You couple that with state and local government spending, taxing, Americans are now turning almost half our economy over to government. 

The fact that politicians that are enacting all of this stuff…  this vast government, all these big programs, the fact that they were democratically elected simply says that Americans are choosing authoritarianism, they are voluntarily giving up their liberty.

The Wall Street Journal noted that the Build Back Better Act just passed in the House contains $555 billion in “grants, credits, and deductions” just for green energy projects.  

Yet, in order to qualify for these funds however, firms must pay “prevailing wages.”  Meaning union wages. Davis Bacon wages. 

Non-union and small contractors will be shut out.  

Of course, the reason that this can even happen in a nation founded on the principles of liberty is because we as a nation have lost understanding ourselves that our constitution was originally written “to secure the blessings of liberty.”  

So now government just looms large everywhere. In every single area of our lives.

And the Biden administration wants us to continue down this path, this path of authoritarianism.

Which leads to more corruption, and more disrespect for human rights.

No, I am sorry Mr. Biden. America should not be about promoting big government. It should be about promoting liberty.

America should not only be promoting liberty abroad, but more importantly America should be securing the blessings of liberty here at home.