Delivered at a political forum in Diamondhead, Mississippi in 2001
In 1831 Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote:
“If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind us!
Too few among us bother to read history, much less study philosophy.
In spite of, or perhaps because of that fact, we often hear statements like ”The president manages the economy”. Or, “The federal government conducts the nation’s business”.
When you consider that our nation’s populace consists of 260 million individuals, representing virtually EVERY cultural background in the world, living in thousands of villages, towns, and cities spread across 3 and a half million square miles of land, you might suspect that such statements are just a BIT inflated.
Nevertheless, most Americans believe such statements. Most Americans actually believe that their choice between Al Gore and George Bush will be vital to their lives.
Where did we get such a notion?
Well, that’s where history comes in.
In his famous book, “Democracy in America” Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about what happens when people become too dependent upon a central authority.
He stated: “There are countries in Europe where the inhabitant feels like some sort of farm laborer indifferent to the fate of the place where he dwells. The greatest changes may take place in his country without his concurrence; he does not even know precisely what has happened; he is in doubt…... Worse still, the condition of his village, the policing of his road, and the repair of his church and parsonage do not concern him; he thinks that all those things have nothing to do with him at all, but belong to a powerful stranger called the government…….His detachment from his own fate goes so far that if his own safety or that of his children is in danger, instead of trying to ward the peril off, he crosses his arms and waits for the whole nation to come to his aid.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, that is PRECISELY where many of us are today.
We have crime in our neighborhoods. We call for a federal solution.
We’re worried about the poor. We seek federal poverty programs.
Many people believe the best solution to our failing schools is to spend more federal money.
We call for federal solutions to drug use among our youth.
Folks, crime is not a national problem. Drug abuse is not a national problem. Neither is poverty, nor education.
These are all LOCAL problems, that happen to exist in a lot of localities!
As a Libertarian, I am not going to stand here and tell you that if you send me to Washington, your problems will be solved. That would be ridiculous.
What I will tell you is that I believe we need to leave the federal government to truly national issues, such as defense and maintaining the union, and bring control of our lives, and our money, back home.
We are the only ones who can solve our problems.
I would urge you to look with suspicion upon any candidate who tells you otherwise.