Thus, all kinds of interference into individual and economic freedom took shape -- including, for example, the establishment of several non-essential U.S. Cabinet Departments and Agencies, such as the DOC, DOT, EPA, DOE, HUD, HHS, DOL, Dept. of Education, Dept. of Agriculture, including the IRS, FDA, FCC, FAA, etc. None of these Departments or Agencies are a part of the essential and proper functions of government. They are not necessary in protecting individual rights, property rights, or economic freedom. On the contrary, their very existence promotes the violation of these rights and freedoms, and constantly do so. Most of these Departments were conceived in a statist-progressive ideology, and should be rejected, abandoned, and eliminated. It is interesting to note that 70 percent of the U.S. Cabinet Departments were established after 1900, when Progressivism started to take root in our country as our fear of freedom grew.
And, what about the contradictions and flaws in our Constitution? Though this topic is well beyond the scope of this article, an immediate example comes to mind. Take, for instance, the “Commerce Clause” as currently written: “The Congress shall have Power ... To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; ...” This is a contradiction in the face of true economic freedom and violates property rights, and a flaw in that it leaves open to arbitrary interpretation of the government’s role, if any, in Commerce -- a flaw that the statists and progressives have been taking advantage of ever since.
In my opinion, this original Constitutional Commerce Clause should be completely eliminated, and then replaced with something like this: “Congress shall pass no Legislation and make no Law abridging, denying, limiting, restricting, regulating, and/or controlling the Freedom of Commerce, Production, Trade, and Labor (including any and all applications, processes, products, and services thereof and/or related to) in any way or manner whatsoever, among Individuals, Businesses, and/or among the States, Domestically and/or Internationally in nature, and/or with Foreign Nations...” Basically, this would establish the Separation of Commerce and State, and protect economic freedom, rights, and property. That’s just one example.
“We The People” -- meaning society in general -- must learn to return to trusting individual freedom, individual rights, property rights, and Capitalism, as our Founding Fathers did. Because we once trusted these principles as a citizenry majority before the early 1900s, the U.S. became an amazing nation of productive, innovative, prosperous, benevolent, and charitable free individuals and businesses. We mustn’t confuse this with the past 100 years of growing statist-progressive government control and interference, special interests, and crony business -- which has definitely been un-American!
Economics teaches us that prosperity comes only from production, not from consumption. However, great production is only possible in individual freedom, not the control of that freedom. To guarantee that freedom, government must be limited to it’s only proper purpose of protecting individual rights, including property rights.
The United States of America was conceived in limited government and in a mutual trust of both individual and economic freedom, and in freedom we must trust again.