Principles

Shared Beliefs of Conservatives and Progressives

We believe in freedom.

We believe in hard work.

We believe that good work should be well rewarded.

We believe in the right to own property which is the reward of our work; and we believe in the right of our spouses and children to inherit our property upon the occasion of our passing.

We believe in the rights of the individual to pursue their self-interest wherever it may lie. We also believe in the rule of law as a protection against the excesses of the few for whom the pursuit of self-interest crosses the border into the criminal and thereby threatens the health, safety, privacy, and security of our persons, our families, and our interests.

Therefore, we recognize the necessity for a government to enforce the rule of law.

We believe that all people must be treated equally by the law, and that a person’s genetics, heritage, fortunes, or social status must not be used to dispose the law toward that person in either a favorable or an unfavorable manner.

We believe that the interests of the people outweigh the interests of the state, and we agree that the people should look askance and even raise an outcry whenever the state seeks an expansion of its powers.

We believe in democracy, because we believe that the government’s purpose is to serve the people, and we believe that the right to govern can only be bestowed by the people.

We believe in the Constitution. We cherish the separation of powers which prevents our great nation from slipping into the clutches of tyranny.

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In my book Principles for a Self-Directed Society, section 6.3.2.1 “Big Brother Really Is Watching You,” I discuss legislation which was then pending:  the FISA Amendments Act, which has received much publicity in the media.  The legislation was intended to hugely broaden Presidential powers by essentially signing off after the fact on an illegal warrantless wiretap program which the Bush administration had already been conducting for years. The FISA Amendments Act is an extension of a previous bill which did just that for a limited time; but the new bill also reforms the system that was established by the original Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in several ways. The aspect of the legislation which has received the most attention in the media is the retroactive immunity it provides to telecommunications companies which participated in the illegal warrantless surveillance program; yet although this provision may be the most obviously odious, it is hardly the most sinister part of the bill. According to Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, the bill “allow[s] the government to apply for wiretaps after beginning surveillance and [to] continue monitoring Americans’ phone calls and e-mail messages [even] if the FISA court rejects the application.” (Emphasis added.)

I would like to remind America that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution specifically prohibits the government from conducting any search without a warrant based on probable cause.
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