If you haven’t listened to the Liberty Relearned podcast in a while, I really hope you’ll listen to this one and the last. All of the major topics I’ve discussed since the inception of the podcast will be covered in a planned multi-part series. I’d like to think that the ideas I talk about are of value to the listener. I deeply value the opinions of my readers and listeners so I encourage you to share your thoughts on this episode. Your feedback is the primary way I know to make the necessary improvements and adjustments, plus I want people to feel free to add their own thoughts to what I say — Thanks. J.P. Mac.

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• Fiscal responsibility as a conservative value. American conservatism may differ from that of other countries, but ideas of fiscal conservatism are the same everywhere.
  • All federal spending in the U.S. currently is deficit spending. It is funded by either:
    • Selling debt, usually to foreign countries like China, giving them leverage over our economy.
    • Printing money. This causes inflation.
    • A fiscally responsible nation gets to choose its destiny, fiscally irresponsible nations end up at the mercy of other nations, or simply disappear.
• American exceptionalism is real.
  • The achievements of America are unparalleled in human history and are not to be dismissed
    lightly
    • Building the Panama Canal, sending men to the moon, heck we even sent cars into space!
    • Pax Americana. You would trust some other nation with superpower status? When America prospers the world is safer and also prospers.
    • American ingenuity, sparked by capitalism and the free market is responsible for many of the modern conveniences we take for granted.
• Morality is necessary and matters.
  • Is very poorly taught, even by the religious experts whose job it is to teach morality.
  • Is dualistic in nature. Morality is supported by the twin pillars of life and liberty (free will)
    • For believers, God’s greatest gifts to mankind were life and free will.
      • Everything starts with life, and its edification
      • Free will is what sets humans apart not just from the animals, but the angels.
  • Even in a secular ethos, such as Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, life and free will are keys to moral behavior, and neither should be sought without consideration for the other
    • Exercising free will at the expense of life is unethical, but so so is pursuing life at the expense of free will.
    • Pursuing rational self-interest does not mean never sacrificing for others, it means sacrificing for others must bring us happiness because of our love for those we sacrifice for.

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Thanks!

J.P. Mac