Lessons from a Forefather
I recently took a trip to Monticello in beautiful Charlottesville Virginia; I often go there to relax my brain and to get away from things. This trip was no different, however this time I focused my mind on the person that lived in this space and why I come here so often.
I became an admirer of Thomas Jefferson around the same time I became, as I like to call, “an addict of politics”. His writings on liberty in freedom are inspiring and rings full of simplistic ideals. The idea that man is born free is enough for me to be inspired, and enough to make me want to fight for these freedoms. I think some have forgotten this lesson. The focus has been shifted to politics rather than the purpose of what we are in this to do.
Lately there has been fighting over who in the conservative cause is “right”. We have those who think their views on liberty are the right and purist form while we have those who focus on our financial freedom. We also have those who focus on social morality and biblical messaging. I will argue that we are all in this for the same thing, and that is simply to fight for individual freedom and happiness. What I think our forefathers would want is that we nominate and elect public servants, and not simply just politicians, and for us to elect those who will stand for liberty and fight against tyranny. I feel strongly that in the last few cycles, my party has not done this. We have put up candidates that are as watered down as they can be. Is it possible to find the perfect candidate? Perhaps not, but let’s try.
My friends in the Libertarian movement have the right idea of finding someone whose number one priority is liberty, my friends in the TEA Party movement have it right when we try to find someone who fights for fiscal sanity and my social conservative friends have it right that we need to find someone with a moral fiber. If all the pieces work together we may be able to solve the puzzle.
My favorite quote from President Jefferson was in a letter to President John Adams, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past “. The party has lost its way but together we can get on the right track. I am an eternal optimist and am so optimistic that our future as a party will be great. We have all the pieces, we just need the glue and the inspiration to do better and to be better. Millions of dollars on polling and surveys and reports are useless if we throw away the values of Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness.
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