It's the sovereignty, ma'am

In a thread on a UK site, Katherine of London wrote:

"Do any of you actually know what Marxism and socialism are? Americans seem to throw these terms around..."

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It's all about sovereignty, ma'am.

The assumption in old Europe was that God granted sovereignty as the divine right of kings (cf. Filmer: Patriarcha, 1680). The assumption among statists is that sovereignty inheres in the state (cf. Hobbes and Hegel). The axiom of the Declaration of Independence is that sovereignty is an endowment to the individual from his Creator. It is then Men who institute government for the purpose of securing each man's rightful ownership of his own Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness. The just powers of such government derive from from the consent of the governed; and if indeed any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right and the duty of the people to alter or abolish it and institute new "improved" government (cf. Locke and Jefferson).

Government is the creature and servant -- not the master -- of Man under God. As George Washington said, "Government is not reason, nor eloquence. It is force. And like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master." And as Condoleezza Rice has said, "Human dignity is not a government's grant to its citizens nor mankind's gift to one another; it is God's endowment to all humanity."

Marxism, socialism, collectivism, communism, statism, fascism, elitism, tribalism, monarchism, and others are all repugnant as each usurps by force of government the inalienable rights of the individual. No matter the methodology, no end can justify such means.

What of compassion, social justice, and the like? These are matters of conscience and are not legitimately ordained by government. Instead think "church" -- or other voluntary associations (cf. de Tocqueville).

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." -- James Madison, The Federalist No. 51

"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy." -- Abraham Lincoln

So long as one refuses to realize the genius of the Declaration of Independence, he (or she) is welcome to the doom and dependency of a serf mentality.

EX DEO LIBERTAS -- Liberty is from God. Use it or loose it, cousin.

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