The Liberty Manifesto

I was surfing for some P.J. O'Rourke writings today and I came across this speech he gave to the Cata Institute back in 1993.

Like most of his writings it is a must read. Some quotes:

This is because we believe in freedom. Freedom-what this country was established upon, what the Constitution was written to defend, what the Civil War was fought to perfect.

Freedom is not empowerment. Empowerment is what the Serbs have in Bosnia. Anybody can grab a gun and be empowered. It's not entitlement. An entitlement is what people on welfare get, and how free are they? It's not an endlessly expanding list of rights - the "right" to education, the "right" to health care, the "right" to food and housing. That's not freedom, that's dependency. Those aren't rights, those are the rations of slavery - hay and a barn for human cattle.

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.

...

You know. if government were a product, selling it would be illegal. Government is a health hazard. Governments have killed many more people than cigarettes or unbuckled seat belts ever have. Government contains impure ingredients-as anybody who's looked at Congress can tell you. On the basis of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign promises. I think we can say government practices deceptive advertising. And the merest glance at the federal budget is enough to convict the government of perjury, extortion, and fraud. There, ladies and gentlemen, you have the Cato Institute's program in a nutshell: government should be against the law. Term limits aren't enough. We need jail.

Well said. This of course applies equally to Canada and the rest of the 'free world'.

Dependency is the greatest crime that a government can commit against its citizens. And here in Canada we see it all around us.

As an example, back home in PEI the government has been pressured to provide separate french elementary schools in areas with very small french populations. I'm not here to debate the wisdom of opening such schools since I'm basically neutral on the matter but I do want to comment on one of the most commonly sited reasons people gave for demanding them. One of the most common reasons was that being bilingual made getting a government job much easier.

Can you imagine? Parents preprogramming their children to be dependent on the good graces of their masters. Children raised in such a manner are going into the world with one strike already against them.

Now I don't mean to pick just on PEI but since I've spent most of my life there its my primary point of reference. When a problem exists somewhere, doesn't matter what, the first thing people turn to in order to solve the problem is the government. A government grant perhaps. How about ACOA funding? Lets give money to outsiders if they promise to give us jobs. There must be someone out there who will help us... the rations of slavery - hay and a barn for human cattle.