There is a war going on behind the scenes, below the conscious level, for the hearts and minds of every individual.  The battle rages in the realm of thoughts and principles, of philosophy and religion.  Its outcome determines the joy and freedom in our lives to come.  This battle lasts for centuries, millennia, and ages, for the mind and soul.  The enemy is not vanquished, merely thwarted.

The antagonists (of freedom) ask citizens to give up some of their individual rights, their independence, for the “promise“ of something better, for a concept of safety and protection.  And all they ask is that adherents give even more power to a central-control government (actually, to a false concept) and exercise less independent self-reliance.

This desire to control is the reason Congress, the president, and bureaucrats are willing to spend so much government money (which doesn’t exist; it all comes from us) on welfare and entitlements.

When the individual gives up his duty to provide for himself, he gives up his individualism, his right and duty to freedom.  When he gives up his freedom for a government, he becomes a serf. 

This is a battle of the mind and spirit.  It rages behind the scenes, at a subconscious level, in the philosophical and spiritual realm.  Therefore, this fight is for ideas and principles, virtue or falsehood.  This realm is even more “real” than the physical.  If we don’t recognize this subtle power, we will be manipulated by it.  Awareness brings knowledge. 

Politics is just an outward manifestation of this straggle.  To understand our motivations, we should know of the eternal battle that rages within us — and of the mechanism that those who would manipulate us, at a psychological level, will use.  The object of this knowledge is self-awareness to guide our path so that we can wisely exercise our free will to choose the best way.

Our founding fathers won the battle — not against the king of England, but against the concept of tyranny and control.  They declared the independence of the individual and forged the concept of the divinity of the individual within the Constitution.  The physical battle was won after the philosophical and spiritual battle.

And here we are again, after 300 years, still engaged in the struggle for truth.  It’s not the struggle, not even the winning or losing.  Rather, it’s what we learn from it: how we live our lives, how we manifest our deeper understanding of the goal.

If that goal is freedom to gain wisdom, then we have prevailed.  As divine individuals, free to choose, we may exercise our will to cast aside the shackles of tyranny and stand in the light.

If we, as individuals, are free, then how can we oppress others or allow the prevailing party (ours or theirs) to oppress others?  The greatest lesson in the Constitution and Declaration is the divine nature of this concept of the individual.

Conversely, tyranny or oppression relegates the individual to chattel, something to use, to possess.

Consider the Constitution.  To whom or what do the majority of restraints pertain?  They speak exclusively to restraint of our own government.  The Constitution does not lay down laws that restrict the individual; rather, it protects the rights of the individual to the divine (inalienable) right of his own free will.

We have laws, commandments, religion, and philosophy to guide the individual and lay out the actions that are unforgivable, those acts that the individual must never commit.  What need have we for additional rules and regulations from a body of men inhabiting our government?  Are we not fully capable, as divine individuals, to choose the correct path?  And if we are not, retribution will be swift and just.

The nation rebelled against the constant creep of government incursion into every aspect of our lives.  The vote decimated the entire concept of control through government edict that warped the nation for decades.

Pray that President-Elect Trump and his Cabinet keep one ideal, one principle, firmly in mind.

We put him in place for one reason only: to protect the divine rights and freedom of the individual and to do so in strict adherence to our Constitution.

Pray that our new president has an enlightened, and safe, tenure during his limited time in office.  Pray that his Cabinet keeps the same principles that begat our nation and that its members don’t let power go to their heads.  It is our responsibility to hold our elected to account.  We did not give any politician or bureaucrat the edict to oppress any American citizen.

Jay Davidson is founder and CEO of a commercial bank.  He is a student of the Austrian School of Economics and a dedicated capitalist.  He believes there is a direct connection joining individual right and responsibility, our Constitution, capitalism, and the intent of our Creator.

Image: LIDayo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.