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The nation’s founders were clear in the Declaration of Independence. All men are endowed with the right “to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and “Governments are instituted among men” in order to “secure these rights.” That’s it. That’s the vision of America toward which the founders aspired. Individual freedom is the core pillar of American reality. Government is there to protect individuals and enable them to live free lives. If you don’t believe hard work will get you anywhere, so the American dream collapses. This is the great divide today in our nation. We might look at the just published 2022 Economic Freedom of the World Report by the Fraser Institute in Vancouver, Canada, to get a sense of human reality and freedom.
The Fraser Institute measures economic freedom in 165 countries around the world. Free countries have limited government and low taxes, less regulation, a legal system that protects life and property, a stable currency, and free trade.
The top 25% of countries in economic freedom have per capita income seven times higher than the bottom 25%, have life expectancy 14 years longer, and income earned by the poorest 10% that is eight times higher.
Our country is moving further and further away from individuals being able to live freely and control their own life. The result is the inflation we’re now experiencing and slow economic growth. Individuals sit by the sidelines, convinced they have no control over their own life, and want to turn it all over to government. It is destroying our nation.
This is what the Republican Commitment to America is about. Restoring the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that once was the American dream.
For most of our history, Americans celebrated freedom. The civil rights movement in the 1960s was about Black Americans protesting their inability to participate fully in this freedom.
But once they got it, many chose to not embrace it and to turn their lives over to government.
But freedom is not something we can live without successfully. Democrats want Americans to buy that government power is the answer.
But the data, and human history, strongly suggest otherwise.
Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www. creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2022 CREATORS. COM
