Restore America’s Liberty!
Government exists to secure your rights. However:
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Your right to speak is not protected on the internet
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Arming yourself is more difficult, regulated, and heavily taxed than ever
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Your electronic papers and personal effects are not secure from intrusion
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American lives and money are wasted in foreign wars and foreign aid
Your rights have been diminished and encroached upon for decades. It is long past time to restore them in full.
1. Enforce the first amendment.
Modern society has made sport of “deplatforming” on the internet. Individuals with ideas that are challenging, unpopular, or deviate the tiniest bit from the diversity narrative find themselves unable to post or comment online.
Being ignored by people who don’t want to hear you is not the issue. Trolls and kill lists have existed since the early days of the internet.
However, deplatforming means you cannot speak in the public square (such as on Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit). This is true even if people want to hear what you have to say.
The first amendment specifically applies to public speech. Anyone is permitted to stand on their soapbox and speak in the public square. Nobody has to listen to you, but you must be permitted to speak.
Relevant Supreme Court rulings state,“[t]he more an owner, for his advantage, opens up his property for use by the public in general, the more do his rights become circumscribed by the statutory and constitutional rights of those who use it” unless such use would “unduly interfere with the normal use of the property by other members of the public . . .”
But the current legal environment for Internet public spaces says, “You can’t speak where the people are. You can go far away from the public, over the hill and behind a tree, and speak there.” The founding fathers would not have stood for that. Neither should we.
Likewise, payment processors such as VISA and GoFundMe should not be gatekeepers. Payment processors refuse to execute transfers of money to causes or people they dislike. The supreme court has ruled that donations of money are a form of speech. A payment processor refusing to process legal, legitimate donations is infringing on your rights.
2. Fully respect the second amendment.
“. . . the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” is clear and obvious. Congress and the courts have had great sport mangling this phrase beyond all recognition.
Citizens are intended to own the exact same armaments as the government. This is a means to defend the oneself and the nation against enemies and tyranny, both external and internal.
Although the argument needs no additional support, also consider that mass shootings basically always happen in gun-free zones. Infringing on the rights of the people does not stop criminals from having guns. Supporting the rights of the people increases their safety and security. A government that chooses infringement is not working in the interests of its people.
De facto registration through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Federal Firearms Licensing, waiting periods, background checks, red flags laws, excessive taxes, restrictions on accessories, and similar laws are deeply unconstitutional. They should be ignored en masse and repealed or annulled.
3. Reinstate the fourth amendment.
The government must not be permitted broad unfiltered access to people’s communications, computers, or phones. Internet messages are the modern equivalent of “papers”, phones are private items carried on our persons, and computers are modern filing cabinets and writing desks. All of these should be covered by the fourth amendment, obviously and comprehensively.
Government copying all data sent over the internet (the PRISM program), automated monitoring of cell phone conversations, and related government actions, make a mockery of privacy and security regardless of the steps individuals take. This is intolerable in what should be a free society.
Government should step in when your rights are being infringed: see #1 above. But government access to communications and devices must be strictly limited, based on probable cause, and only available after obtaining a search warrant.
4. Reduce the scope of military actions to directly defending America and American citizens.
The government of a nation must first and foremost serve the needs of that nation. Any action it takes to interfere with other countries increases the expense and burden upon its own people.
Our founding fathers knew the proper use of a military.
In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “We are the friends of liberty everywhere, but the guarrantors of only our own.”
George Washington warned us against foreign entanglements. “Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence . . . the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.”
Our current government supports over 600 military bases in foreign countries. We are engaged in endless wars with countries that were no threat to America, harrass some to no defined purpose, and occupy others with no clear end dates. This wastes American lives and American money, and does not serve American interests.
5. Eliminate foreign aid.
Forcing tax-paying citizens to support a foreign power they may not agree with is a great evil indeed. If individuals (or a group) wish to aid or support a foreign power, let them do so with their own money and their own influence.
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[–] Old_Gravy_Leg ago
I'd be happy if they just stopped trying to erase our history for now. Not really, it's time to start taking out nogs.