The Source for Freedom and Self-Reliant Information[1]
Thomas Jefferson defined rightful liberty as “unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others—I do not add ‘within the limits of the law,’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.”
What is Democratic Socialism?
Regarding human society’s conduct and organization, two predominant belief systems exist. The first belief system, derived from the “Old World,” stems from the conviction that government is the grantor and protector of human rights and is responsible for protecting and providing for the poor and down-trodden citizens.[2] “Since history began, all people of the Old World— [except Celts, Irish and the Scots]—have always lived in what is now called ‘a planned economy’. When anyone says, ‘a planned economy,’ he means, control of the human energy used in producing and distributing material goods, by an Authority [in modern times, Government] consisting of a few men, and according to a plan made by those men [e.g., the elected Democratic leaders,] – and enforced by the police [or Government force].”[3]
“The Old World remained brutal, bloody, inhumane and indecent for six thousand years, because never in all that time did men escape from planned economies long enough to establish a reliable food supply.”[4] According to Rudolph Rummel, who coined the term democide or death by government, the death toll under socialist and communist regimes in modern times is estimated to be over 100 million in the 20th century. This “Old World” belief system is the current platform of America’s Democratic Party! Why… as Mark R. Levin wrote, The Democrat Party Hates America and they have not learned The Lessons of History (Durant’s – 1968).
Under Stalin and the former Soviet Union (USSR), it is estimated that between 20-to-60 million people died because of the purges, Gulag system, and famine. Another 40-to-70 million or more died in the People’s Republic of China during the Great Leap Forward (1958) famine and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). In Cambodia (Khmer Rouge) (1975-1979), 1.5-to-2.5 million people were slaughtered; and in North Korea, 1-to-3 million or more people died because of famines, purges and prison camps. Hundreds of thousands died in Vietnam, Laos, Cuba, and other countries due to political repression, forced labor, and executions less than seven decades ago.
Hitler was democratically elected in Weimar Germany, which was plagued by hyperinflation, political extremism, and cultural fragmentation. He then used democratic mechanisms to dismantle democracy itself, a chilling reminder of what our Founders feared, i.e., a democracy will ultimately devour itself, that’s why they gave us a Constitutional Republic. Unfortunately, the progressives and the Democrats co-opted our educational system, turned it into a propaganda machine, and now, most of the American public believe we live in a Democracy.
An estimated 17 million non-combat deaths occurred in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. These deaths stemmed from genocide, political purges, forced labor, starvation, and other atrocities. In addition, Hitler’s socialist policies triggered World War II causing 70-to-80 million total deaths globally, both military and civilian. While not all World War II deaths are directly attributable to Hitler, his aggressive expansionism and genocidal ideology were central to the conflict. This “Old World” belief system, understood by America’s Founding generation, which resulted in compulsion, slavery and poverty, was again proven to be true in the 20th Century.
The ancient Celts and Scots, who “successfully resisted the might of the Roman Empire, the Saxons, the Vikings and later England,” were the first to challenge this “Old World” philosophy. In 1320, Scotland’s major clergy and great barons sent a letter to the Pope, “known as the Declaration of Arbroath.” This Declaration was revolutionary in that it expressed the people of Scotland’s “desire for freedom and the right to choose their own government.”[5]
Inspired by the ancient Celts, Irish and Scots, and the teachings of the “Scottish Enlightenment” this “Old World” belief system was successfully challenged by the early American colonists and a new system of belief emerged. In 1776, the Founders of the United States, particularly Thomas Jefferson, challenged and changed this “Old World” view with the conviction that individuals had certain pre-existing inalienable rights that were the basis of legitimate government; they enshrined this belief—inalienable rights that pre-exist government and cannot be legislated away—in the Declaration of Independence. This belief in inalienable rights was included in the Bill of Rights, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America. The Bill of Rights was created in an attempt to protect inalienable rights against a very energetic government that may, in the future, exceed its’ authority. As Randy E. Barnett wrote, “without an understanding of natural rights [or inalienable rights], [Americans] are very likely to misinterpret the Constitution in crucially important ways.”
Under the natural rights philosophy, Americans have a right to pursue happiness or property, which, for example, would include a right to pursue healthcare; however, a positive right to healthcare—forcing other individuals to provide healthcare—is contrary to the natural rights philosophy in that it requires others to do some act for the benefit of the persons entitled. The natural rights philosophy supports individual freedom for all, while the granting of positive rights—whether healthcare, housing, minimum wages, childcare, transportation, etc.— subjugates some Americans for the benefits of others.
Despite the Founders’ vision of inalienable rights that pre-exist government and cannot legitimately be legislated away, the current federal and State governments operate under the “Old World” view, one in which government is perceived as the grantor and protector of human rights.
Today, those who—many unknowingly— believe in the “Old World” philosophy, justify their violation of individual freedom and private property rights through regulation, taxation, and redistribution, as necessary for the common good and social justice for all mankind. As Richard A. Epstein opined, “the term common good should send shudders down the spine of any champion of limited government. Just this phrase shamelessly propped up the totalitarian regimes that laid waste to both Germany and the Soviet Union.” In Weimar Germany in the 1920s-1930s, Hitler came into power because of hyper-partisanship and street violence, economic instability and inflation, cultural fragmentation and scapegoating, and the erosion of trust in institutions.
Today, in the United States, we have similar issues as those in Weimar Germany over a century ago, e.g., rising political violence and threats to officials, economic anxiety and wealth inequality, cultural wars and identity-based polarization, and the declining faith in media, elections, and government.
In Federalist No. 10, Madison wrote, “democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” Throughout history, including more modern times (the 20th Century), Democratic Socialism has never succeeded. As winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Will and Ariel Durant wrote, “democracy [once again, is now taking] its turn in the misgovernment of mankind.”
As Bastiat (1801-1850) explained, “socialism and communism are basically the same plant in [two] different stages of its growth.” And “the most popular fallacy of our times . . . is the seductive lure of socialism . . . that it must be philanthropic. . . We must choose . . . A citizen cannot at the same time be free and not free.” First comes democracy, which transitions to socialism— “the vaguest, the most indecisive, and consequently, the most sincere stage of development”—which, to succeed, turns into communism, where “legal plunder is more visible because it is a complete plunder” of the masses. Margaret Thatcher famously said, "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” For a socialist regime to continue, it must transition to communism, where the leaders live like Kings and the masses are slaves living in poverty.
To understand how we got here and what may be done to restore our Constitutional Republic, please read, Freedom vs. Democracy, The Supreme Court May Be Our Last Hope, available through our website or directly from Amazon.com.
When I published Freedom vs. Democracy in 2022, the Biden Administration was accelerating the destruction of our Constitutional Republic, using democratic principles and weaponizing the federal government against anyone who expressed views that supported individual freedom, private property rights, limited government, and a Constitutional Republic given us by the Founders and Framers of this great country of ours. With President Trump now in charge, he is truly our last hope!
To continue Trump’s efforts to Make America Great Again and keep us on the right path towards freedom, the Supreme Court must be persuaded to do the right thing as outlined in Freedom vs. Democracy, not only while President Trump is in office, but without a doubt, during future presidencies.
The Democrats have referred to President Trump as the “King Dictator” and “Swamp King.” They have repeatedly likened his rhetoric to that of Hitler and Mussolini and have called him a fascist. If they hadn’t specifically referred to President Trump, I would have thought they were talking about Presidents Obama and Biden!
Here’s what President Trump is doing now, with signs of success already becoming apparent: (1) reducing individual and business taxes; (2) reducing regulations; (3) incentivizing international investment and the growth of U.S. businesses; (4) increasing energy production; (5) selling off costly and unneeded government assets; (6) eliminating the Deep State; (7) deporting illegal & criminal aliens; (8) reducing federal aid to foreign governments; and (9) eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. Does this sound like something that a King or dictator would do? I would suggest to you that the Democratic Leaders—that are against everything Trump is doing—are want-to-be Kings and Dictators, and the rank and file or followers, are ignorant and naïve, not understanding that socialism results in “compulsion, slavery, and poverty” for the masses, while the Leaders live like Kings.
Trump also wants to abolish the IRS and eliminate the income tax by replacing it with tariffs. Details can be found in my book, The Case for Trump’s Tariffs and the Elimination of the Federal Income Tax. The American Founders believed that direct taxes (e.g., taxes on the wages of labor or the income tax) were dangerous and natural to slavery, while indirect taxes or taxes on the sale of merchandise were more natural to liberty. That’s why there was no federal income tax while our Founders were alive; and for the first 168 years of our existence, the primary source of federal revenue was from excise taxes and customs duties or tariffs.
My fervent hope is that President Trump will prevail and keep our experiment in individual freedom and private property rights alive!
Dum Spiro Spero—While I breathe, I hope.
Slàinte mhath,
Robert (Mike) G. Beard Jr., C.P.A., C.G.M.A., J.D., LL.M.
[1] Each Jeffersonian Group, LLC (www.jeffersoniangroup.com) publication is intended solely for information purposes and is not intended nor does it purport to provide legal, tax, individual investment advice, estate planning advice, medical advice, insurance, or business advice. In addition, information and analysis is compiled from sources believed to be reliable but such accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Readers should do their own research and consult with expert medical, legal, tax, insurance, business, and financial counsel before taking any action. Copyright © 2025 Jeffersonian Group, LLC
[2] Robert G. Beard, Jr., The United States Government is Illegitimate, p.3, Lulu Publishing Services (2017).
[3] Rose Wilder Lane, The Discovery of Freedom, Man’s Struggle Against Authority, p. 22 (1943), Fox & Wilkes (1993).
[4] Id. at p. 38.
[5] Alexander L. Klieforth and Robert J. Munro, The Scottish Invention of America, Democracy and Human Rights, Forward, University Press of America (2004).