Photo by Slav Romanov on Unsplash
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. --- From The Declaration of Independence
We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. The Constitution Preamble
Individuals can act in any way and assume any identity they create. A person's freedoms are only limited by being prohibited from violating the unalienable rights of another person. These are the basic tenets, the constitutional structure of government, the amendments, and the laws passed represent our social order.
How Desirable is the US to Worldwide Immigrants?
The United States has been the leading destination for international migrants worldwide since 1970, according to the World Migration Report 2022. The number of foreign-born people in the country has increased more than fourfold, from fewer than 12 million in 1970 to more than 50 million in 2020.
There are reasons for this popularity; the United States of America was the world's first and most prosperous nation to exploit free market capitalism, offering the highest degree of freedom to every person to prosper. The US reached its peak in the 1950s and 1960s; after WWII, the US controlled 50% of world trade using its strength to:
Patrol the seas to ensure free navigation and trade everywhere, spreading free market capitalism.
Would fight and bleed for any ally when necessary.
Open its free market to partner countries even if they protected their economy.
Provide financial liquidity to grease all wheels to make trade work.
The United Nations' primary funder oversees the most prolonged, excellent peacetime world economy ever.
Many countries use worldwide free-market capitalism-like transactions to chip away at the USA's dominance; today, the US represents 25%. Immigrants still stream from fake free market capitalist nations and less powerful nations to the USA because we are still offering the most freedom to prosper.
What is the Pursuit of Happiness?
To prevent one person's happiness from reducing another person's happiness, we must be cautious and take the minimalist approach when looking for meaning. There is no question that a person enters this world in survival mode. So, the most basic needs to sustain life come first. A person must have nourishment to live short term. Once a person is nurtured, they need safety to survive and act longer-term. Once people have nourishment and safety, they can work freely, seeking happiness. From that point on, a person and their family, until they are 18, are responsible for their happiness and actions as they affect the unalienable rights of others. Once a person is an adult, they are responsible for themselves first and may extend help to others, charity, or giving. Still, it is not their responsibility to do so.
Notice that it is the pursuit of happiness, not entitlement to happiness. Once an adult person, age 18, you are responsible for your happiness, survival, and safety, all of which obligate you to participate in the US of America's free market capitalistic economy for the products and services you need to survive and be happy. This is why the US government supports, equally as possible, public education for every person through and until adulthood, age 18. Acquisition of knowledge is a lifelong endeavor. By age 18, you are provided by our government, by We The People, with enough knowledge and learning skills to pursue survival and happiness in a free-market capitalism world.
Just as others are not allowed to take the happiness you have earned by producing value in a free market capitalist economy, you may not take the happiness from others. The pursuit of happiness is most prosperously played out as a Win-Win: do unto others as you require others to do unto you. Notice the difference between the religious golden rule many of us grew up learning that involved turning the other cheek, "as you wish others to do unto you."
The Government, We The People, may not take happiness from anyone and give it to another. Welfare must be for Work unless given, and even then, it should be encouraged, i.e., tax deduction, by the Government but not directly provided by the Government. The free market capitalism of We The People is much more accurate and efficient than the Government in knowing when and how to give compassionate help that restores dignity and the ability to pursue happiness to those who need help. The best solution for everyone is non-political small government.
Factions, Religion, Politics, Shadow Governments, and Polyvagal Theory
Factions
The biggest threat discussed during drafting the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was factions that could destroy the United States of America. The fear was a fatal loss of unity that could split people into unworkable, stubbornly opinionated, small, power-hungry groups. In the end, the people drafting the Constitution viewed the Constitution as based on many Christian principles also found in other world religions; mandating freedom of religion to rule over primarily religious people would guarantee the unity required for democracy to prevail.
Religion
As our founders planned, the first and most potent faction was religion. This has sustained a collaborative democracy for 186 years. In 1962, something happened; see The Great Decline graph below.
The Great Decline of Religion coincided with the rise of the counter-culture factions we live with today.
Let's be honest: religion, the gorilla faction in the room for 186 years, posed some problems. The Democrats did not invent political correctness in the 1970s. From its adoption by the first 13 states to the 1970s, religion was viewed as political correctness and socially followed as if it were an amendment to the constitution. Every religion freely followed in the USA amended our Constitution; thus, social order was maintained according to diverse religious cultures that thrived for thousands of years.
Politics
Starting with the election of Democratic President Kennedy, religion peaked and fell slightly, not only fueled by the election but more so by the technological development of the birth control pill, which shook the foundation of religious people; for example, the Catholic Church had to redefine sin given the IUD and the pill.
Following this, the assassination of President Kennedy and his brother raised questions that still linger today; our government has decided not to share with We The People. Afterward, Martin Luther King, who supported only equal rights and opportunity, not biased affirmative action and reparations, was assassinated.
As a result of our nation struggling to evolve to live up to the Declaration of Independence and Our Constitution to give equality and opportunity to all, instead of an excellent opportunity to unite, President Johnson made The Civil Rights Movement a gigantic political movement, giving birth to political correctness, Rules for Radicals, and its many social-political factions. Simply put, politics replaced religion; as religion faded, people clung to their ideology and identity of choice.
Like pouring gasoline on a fire or a snowball downhill becoming an avalanche, political correctness leads to control of free market capitalism; this leads to the national debt, inflation, higher taxes, and less productivity. Thus, control of our economy and our lives is soon to follow.
Many people rush to join the high one gets when they realize they are victims, and their lack of success is not their fault. Too many people in need with this attitude depend on our government for basic needs and happiness while working Americans pay them.
Shadow Governments
A shadow government means a managed economy; this socialism requires many government employees. Just as in the free market, government workers want more, as every American does. Thus, the government expands, adding to its inflated payroll while a growing complicit oligarchy thrives in the private sector. Government. is the gorilla in the room that does not have the same stresses and limitations that the free market private sector has; it does not have the efficiency and innovation of We The People motivated by profit.
Shadow Government leads to a Shadow Economy as the government works with the private sector. Spending Relationships are formed rather than Business Relationships. The government is the boss, and the realities of free-market capitalism do not restrain it. Furthermore, government management means the money spent is paying for political favors. This has always been the way government and politics are; only the scale has grown much more significant, blotting our national budget and debt. The lesson learned here is to leave as much as possible to an incentivized private sector; the job will be less expensive, more innovative, efficient, and timely. Socialism always ends in bankruptcy.
Polyvagal Theory
It is amazing how different people handle stress, get more aggressive, shut down, or suffer some physiological trauma. If you are a soldier in battle, you would get more aggressive. During COVID, we avoid human contact whenever possible. Since the threat is normalized, avoiding human contact lingers; some people still wear masks in public spaces.
Early in life, we live in a stressful survival mode; we depend on others to make us safe or signal us to be safe and teach us how to manage our stress response to life. As we grow older, we lean on people, animals, values, religion, ideology, and ourselves if we can learn to do it. We can educate ourselves to progress from survival mode to a thriving, evolving person, not stressed by speech and ideas we disagree with; we are motivated to explore the unknown, the alternate reality, and reshape our values and objective truth. Find another person you disagree with and do it again. This is what it means to be alive.
As religion has faded, people depend on their ideology and identity. Many spend most of their time on social media or their favorite news channel. They need to manage the stress within them by the reinforcing messages they receive.
The Religious Conservative
Those people on Fox News, or like media, are probably committed to a religious conservative ideology and identify as one did in the 1950s: old-school male, gay? or female, gay? American. When faced with news of the "progressive left, they took note, shut down, and took no action, turning the other cheek. They feel safe under the protection of our Constitution. They seldom watch CNN.
The Far Left
Given another person selecting <pick a favorite non-conservative, non-religious media>, the media opinions agree with their ideology and identity. The person viewing the news is most likely to become aggressive and take action, interacting with friends and considering joining a street demonstration. They want nothing to do with The Constitution; they feel it needs to be rethought and rewritten, and that is in the way of progress.
Myself a Libertarian
I view The Constitution without virtual religious amendments, naked. However, there were stages of my life when I did consider religion a patriotic obligation. I look at all news sources left, right, and middle. It is time-consuming but necessary. I am a diverse individual with an evolving ideology and identity as I continue to discover the objective truths I am compelled to believe in. My advice is always to have an open mind. The Constitution is what it is. It is short and well worth the read. Given no conflict, I am willing to live by it, amended by my objective libertarian experience.
The Rich Should Pay Their Fair Share
You will hear the Democrats say you are prosperous: Bidenomics has created an excellent economy. The truth is more dollars are chasing a limited supply of products and services, leaving us with debt and inflation. We have the most significant peacetime national debt, over $33 Trillion. If nothing changes, we will have over $50 Trillion in debt in 10 years.
During President Regan's and President Trump's administrations, when taxes were reduced, the government took in a much more significant amount of dollars in tax, balanced the budget, and even paid down some debt while keeping market prices stable, with no inflation and low interest rates. The thing that Democrats are objecting to is that the wealthy got wealthier, and the wealth gap between the rich and poor increased. However, the top 5% of taxpayers pay 2/3 of the total tax burden. So, 95% of people either pay nothing, get welfare, or pay a reasonable amount of the remaining 1/3 of taxes. If this is not fair, I do not know what is.
Comparing Bidenomics and the Regan-Trump economies, Regan-Trump economics brings much more prosperity and happiness to a more productive We The People. Win-Win, Everybody Wins.