Limited Government

Conservatives are about conserving the principles which maximize liberty. Many, even some conservatives, have characterized conservatism as being for "small government". However, this is not technically true. A small government can still do a great deal of undue damage.

Instead conservatives promote the idea of limited government. If the government is limited from violating your negative rights, then the government will indeed be small. Here in America, our government is founded on a document called the Constitution. The Constitution is one of the things that makes America unique. It marks the first time that a nation was founded on laws, rather on a supposed divine right of kings.

The Constitution was founded on a philosophy called Liberalism, and we conservatives love the Constitution. We seek to interpret it strictly (or conservatively) because we know that it will lead to greater freedom for everyone. If people interpret it loosely (liberally), or simply rewrite it to suit their own views, we will have tyranny from those who are interpreting. It's a scenario like the pigs in Animal Farm, who rewrote the laws while the other animals were sleeping.

The Constitution is our contract with our government. We give them the power to protect our rights and dispense justice, in return they are bound not to violate our rights. This is why it is so important to understand that our rights are negative. If the government violates the contract, it has nullified it's legitimacy. Our Founders took this very seriously, even saying that the people should overthrow the government in such an event.

The Referee

The government is supposed to be a referee, and the Constitution is a handbook of all the things that the referee should not do. The referee should not interfere with the game. The referee cannot pick favorites. The referee cannot give free throws to a team, just because he feels like it. It can only give free-throws when one team is fouled by the other team.

My Observations

I am no expert on the Constitution, but I have had the honor of studying under many experts who love our nation and want to preserve the freedoms that our Constitution brings. Earlier this year, I read through the entire US Constitution, and I would recommend it for anyone who hasn't. Even if you are not conservative. You might not understand all of it, but try to grasp as much as you can. I am now reading further materials to help me better understand the original document and it's underlying philosophy. While I am no expert, allow me to share a few of my observations on this great document.

1. The articles and amendments in the Constitution restrict the government, not the people. You would think that the law of the land would have articles talking about activities that are restricted for citizens. To my memory, there are none, save the Prohibition Amendment, which is also the only amendment that has been repealed.

2. The articles and amendments protect the negative rights of the people. I have put this series in this order for a reason. I spent a whole blog explaining “negative rights” and how your only true right is the right to be left alone. All of the rights that the Constitution protects are negative rights, and they are all protected against the government.

3. The Tenth Amendment delegates all other powers to the States and to the people. This observation segues nicely into my next blog in this series. A government ought to be decentralized as much as possible. Decentralization is the best way to limit the government.

God Talks- Does God Care if You're Fit?

By Chelsea Rowell of Chelsea Gets Fit

Before you jump on me with all that, “Man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart” stuff, let me say that I already know. That’s not the point of this article.

The purpose of this article is to look into what the Bible really has to say about fitness, nutrition, and overall health and well being of the human body. So many people have told me, “God wants me to be happy, so I can eat what I want!” To which I reply, “gag me.” Another popular line I hear is, “Working out and getting in shape isn’t for the glory of God, it’s for the glory of YOU…” Again, puh-lease. Give me a break. These are just two examples of Christianized excuses and are more than likely taking God’s name in vain…or LAME. Contrary to popular belief, sola feels is not one of the "sola's" of Christian theology.

That being said, let’s see what God has told us about how HE feels (not us as individuals or as a society feel) about the way we take care of our bodies!

1. GOD LIVES IN YOU (Gal. 2:19-20; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 9:27)

As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are not the only one living inside your skin. Christ actively is living in you and wanting to live through you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, as well. If Jesus walked up to you one day and said, “Hey, friend. I love you and think we should live together so that I can be a constant Helper to you! Will you build a house for us?” Would you build a little shack out of rotten boards and old nails? Would you build a frail house made of sticks and stones and probably cardboard covering the patches trying to keep rain out? Would you build the house out of little carved idols that you worship made of silver and gold and say, “Hey, God, ignore the fact that I love these idols more than I love you, look how beautiful they are! Aren’t you glad I did this for me…I mean you??” OF COURSE NOT!!!!

Christian, the Creator of the Universe and the Author and Finisher of our faith deserves more than a beaten-down little shack. He deserves a well-crafted, well-thought out, strong, and sturdy place to dwell. Build your temple to glorify HIM.

2. GOD VALUES PHYSICAL TRAINING (1 Tim. 4:8)

Now, note that the verses says that bodily training is of some value, because a right relationship with God holds more value than any other thing in the Universe. But it is interesting that this phrase is even in the Bible, telling us that God does value physical fitness. If He didn’t, the verse would say, “…bodily training is of no value…” or, “…bodily training is worthless…” or, it probably just would use a completely different analogy altogether.

3. GOD CARES ABOUT YOUR BODY (1 Thess. 5:23)

“Now may your whole spirit, soul, and BODY be kept blameless until the coming of our Lord…” God wants our spirit, our soul, and our body. Many Christians, myself included, believe that humans are a trichotomy (made up of three parts being body, soul, and spirit), as opposed to being made up of two parts (dichotomy-soul/spirit and body). The reason I bring that up is because--one, it’s super cool that God would make us in His image (being made of three parts) and also because IF we are made of spirit, soul, and body, then we are responsible for each of those things. God cares about what we do with our bodies. If He didn’t, He probably wouldn’t warn against sexual immorality quite so much. ANYWAY moving along, that brings us straight into the next point.

4. YOU WERE FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE (Psalm 139:14)

Not only did God make us in His image, He was so careful and constructed each of us as individual masterpieces, created through Christ to do good works which He has prepared in advance for us. We are to THANK HIM, says the Psalmist, because His works are excellent. The Psalm goes on to say that God made each of us skillfully, and that each of our days were ordained for usbefore we ever lived a single one of them. God worked so, so hard on each of us, creating us each for unique and genuinely good purposes. We are His masterpieces, His handiwork. And He has entrusted each of us to RESPECT and CARE FOR ourselves while we are here on earth. That means that we ought not put ourselves down or demean ourselves, and that we ought to do what we can to keep ourselves in tip top shape so that when Christ returns we will not be like the unwise servant who buried his talents in the ground, but rather like the wise servants who invested the talents that were entrusted to them while the master was away. (Matt 25:14-30

So, you see, God really does care about what you do with your bodies. He also cares about how you view your bodies. I personally struggle SO MUCH with self-doubt and with negative self esteem, which is a quite apparent pride issue. It is not right to think of yourself as any less than anyone else. And it breaks the heart of God. Just as it breaks the heart of God when He looks down on His children doing things that are harmful to the beautiful bodies He has crafted for them.

You can see more of Chelsea's work at Chelsea Gets Fit. We here at FRANK Talks are huge proponents of growing in all areas of life (Spirit, Intellect, Health, Occupation, Social, and Financial), and are so glad to have Chelsea tackle this subject. 

If you like FRANK Talks, we also recommend...

Personal Update

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for the kind words of encouragement that you guys have given for my blog. Unfortunately, these past few months, I haven't had as much time to write new blogs and make new content for you guys. I am currently releasing content that I have back-logged. (Except for this post, that you are currently reading.)

If you like what you are reading, and want to see more of it, I would ask you to please consider pledging to my Patreon account. In exchange, you can get access to exclusive member-only content, or you can simply donate with “No Rewards”.

I am currently working three “jobs”. I put that in quotations, because only one of them pays currently. The other is an internship, and then there is this blog which is only paying $8 a month. My goal is to get the Patreon to a point where I can leave my paying job and spend more time researching and writing for FRANK Talks.

In the Meantime

While you are waiting (and hopefully pledging and telling all of your friends to pledge), I thought that I might recommend some substitutes for you to get your FRANK Talks fix, without actually listening to FRANK Talks. I want to recommend some of the YouTube personalities that I listen to (namely in theology and politics) who have helped shaped my worldview. Now, I don't agree with these people all the time, but I trust your discernment in figuring out Truth from error. After all, you guys are presumably adults.

If you have a YouTube account, I would recommend subscribing to these channels, and saving some of these videos to Watch Later. If you don't I would recommend getting an account. If you are not in a rush, check out the videos that I embedded. 

PJTV

This channel has stopped producing videos, but you can still check out their videos, and read their articles at pjmedia.com. My favorite personalities were Andrew Klavan, Bill Whittle, Alfonzo Rachel, and Scott Ott.

Andrew Klavan

This video is my first exposure to Klavan. I often reference my “imaginary dog Virtue”. In my mind, Klavan is the funniest man on the right. Not only is he incredibly funny, but he's a deep thinker, and much smarter than all the popular comedians and political satirists. Truly an under-rated personality. Today you can find him on twitter, Truth Revolt, Daily Wire. Even if you don't have time to watch his whole 'Andrew Klavan Show' podcast, the intro to his show is always a riot.

Bill Whittle

Over the past three years, Bill Whittle has shaped so much of my philosophy. While we may disagree on religion, this guy has a lot of wisdom and has taught me so much. Bill is not only a deep thinker, he is one of the best communicators on the right, clearly laying out the principles of conservatism in interesting ways.

He simply has too many great talks from which to choose. This one, while lengthy, lays out his entire political philosophy, and this one talks about the importance of virtue. They should both sound familiar, if you are reading my blogs. Bill can be found on PJTV and Truth Revolt, but has recently decided to focus on his own channel.

Alfonzo Rachel

Devout Christian, drummer for his rock band, 20 lb Sledge, Zo also dabbles in political commentary. Zo taught me about the history of the Civil War, the Democrat Party, and the importance of conservatism on social issues. You can find him at PJTV, but he has since moved onto his own channel. He also does intriguing theological commentaries, for those that are interested.

Stephen Crowder

I am subscribed to Crowded, as I am to all the channels that I am recommending, but I never have time to watch his full podcast. Instead, I skip through and look for interviews with my favorite guests... which is most of the guests that he has. The gorgeous Lauren Southern, the offensive Gavin McInnes, the open-minded Dave Rubin, and many of my favorites from PJTV. Maybe if you like podcasts, this one is more for you.

Say Goodnight Kevin

Kevin's channel is not overtly political, however he does not shy away from letting his libertarian colors fly. His main audience is Christians, and his business is making fun of the absurdity that is Christian culture. As his Patreon account states, “Say Goodnight Kevin is creating Youtube videos that encourage people to think for themselves!”

PragerU

Prager University is the most popular resource for conservative arguments on the internet. Even if you are a liberal, it is important for you to hear the other side of the argument. Prager University gives short, clear, and convincing arguments, from guest speakers mostly from the conservative side. Their videos are also easy to share from their Facebook.

Inspiring Philosophy

A great resource for philosophy and theology. I first discovered them through an earlier rendition of the above video: showing how the Trinitarian concept is logically coherent. This channel seeks to show that Christianity is a rational philosophy. Their content is heavily derived from Dr William Lane Craig, whom I am also subscribed to. I have some theological disagreements with both sources, but I agree mostly with the topics that they specialize in.

Charisma on Command

Not theological or political, this channel teaches you how to live a better life and be more charismatic. He is really big on self-esteem (which I am not), but I think that his insights are nonetheless interesting and helpful.

Learn Liberty

I have only recently subscribed to this channel, and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of their wealth of videos. Experts from the libertarian, classically liberal, and conservative variety make educational videos on the principles of liberty and free-economics.

Finally, check out the FRANK Talks YouTube channel, and subscribe! These were only a few of the channels I subscribe to, so maybe I'll do this again with more recommendations. Let me know what you think.

Virtue

Virtue is essential to a free and prosperous society. In order to have a society of pure liberty, we must protect the three basic negative rights: life, liberty, and property. If we want to maintain such a society, everyone has responsibilities.

Responsibilities

Firstly, you are responsible for not violating your neighbors rights. You must have the self-control to govern yourself in such a way that the government won't need to interfere in your life. Second, you have a responsibility to help your neighbors in need. Don't give the government cause to step in and use force to help the needy (like income redistribution). This only gives the government more power.

You also have a responsibility to vote and be involved in politics. Campaigning, writing to your Congressman, attending school board meetings. We have a responsibility to nominate and elect good leaders, and see to it that the laws we pass are good. We have a responsibility to serve on a jury, so we can ensure that our fellow-man gets justice. I am always so disappointed to hear friends try to weasel out of jury duty. If we want to maintain our free society, we all have responsibilities to fulfill.

Each individual has the responsibility to be virtuous, especially in their public life.

Virtue

So what is virtue? Virtue can be defined as “moral excellence”. A perfectly moral population would need no government to regulate them, but there are no perfectly moral people. (At least not here on Earth.) Still, it stands that the more virtuous the people are, the less government they need.

Virtue is living the best life that one can possibly conceive. Living virtuously is living in accordance with the Truth. Here at FRANK talks, I write about and defend the Christian worldview. I believe in the Christian worldview, and I maintain that everyone ought to believe it because it is True. If I happen to be wrong, then you ought to follow whatever is the Truth. (And if there is no such thing as Absolute Truth, then I'm not sure why I even bother communicating with you guys.)

You must ask yourself a few questions. Is God real? Is Christianity the True Religion? Is the Bible Authoritative? And if not/so how should I live my life? This is why two of my main themes in this blog are apologetics and holistic life. First, I want to help others be certain that Biblical Christianity is true beyond a reasonable doubt. Then I want to help them live the best life they can in all areas (Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical, Occupational, Social, Financial, and more).

How to Promote Virtue

Virtue cannot be forced. It cannot come from the top-down. This would not be virtue. Instead it must come from the “bottom-up”. The decision to act virtuously must come from the individual. Each person must seek the Truth, and the best way to live. Some will make mistakes, but they should be given the freedom to do so.

So how do we promote virtue in our society on a national level. As I said, it comes from the bottom up. Learning about virtue starts at home. Morals cannot be taught dispassionately from a textbook or a lecture. Our moral judgments are made in the emotional part of our brain. That is why morals should be taught to us by people we love and trust. This is why conservatives see the family unit as the essential building block to a free and prosperous society. Extended communities like churches help with this process of moral education.

What the Government Can Do

There are two things that the government can do to promote virtue. First, it is imperative that all levels of government protect the negative rights of their citizens. The government must punish those who violate (or maybe even threaten) the negative rights of others, and they must do so severely.

The second thing to do is to decentralize. The Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution delegates all unspecified power to the states. The states ought to delegate power to the counties, and counties to the towns. However, the real power lies in the private individuals and institutions. Each level of government, and each institution, has the right to set their own standards. 

Each individual has the freedom to move to any town, work for the company, or join the denomination whose standards he agrees with. If the standards are good, they will create prosperity when followed. The government must not enact policies which disrupt the fostering of virtue. Policies which inadvertently cause families to fall apart is most disheartening to conservatives.

Benefits of Virtue

The purpose of government is not to provide for people, but to protect their citizens' negative rights. It is then the people's responsibility to provide for themselves, and for those in need. This is why I believe that virtue is so essential to a free society. We need virtuous people who are willing to give to those in need. It also takes virtuous leaders to limit their own powers, or to accept limits on their powers, so that you can experience your God given freedom to it's fullest potential.

Please share this post if you liked it. Also, tell me what you think. Tweet at me @frank_perseo or comment on the Frank Talks Facebook page. Do you agree that virtue is essential to a free and prosperous society? What should we the people be doing (not under government compulsion) to make our nation better?

Negative Rights

What is a right? 

There are two theories that seek to describe what a right is: positive rights and negative rights. A positive right requires action on the part of someone else. For instance, someone must pay for your health-care or education, or provide that service for free. Negative rights require inaction, to be left alone. Your right to life is your right to not be murdered. Your right to property is your right to not be robbed. Your right to free speech is your ability to speak your mind without being stopped.

These two theories are mutually exclusive. Your rights cannot be both positive and negative. To give an example, if you have a positive right to health-care, you are infringing on the property rights of some poor sucker who will need to pay for your health-care. Another alternative is to force the doctor to provide you with health-care, which is a violation of his liberty. There is no way to do this without infringing on someone's negative rights.

The theory of negative rights is a foundational tenet of conservatism. Conservatives believe that it costs nothing to be a decent person. Simply live and let live.

What Are Your Rights

There are many negative rights outlined in the Declaration and Constitution. First, however, we must point out that these documents do NOT grant you these rights. Neither does the government. These rights are inalienable, they rightfully belong to everyone. These document's indicate that these rights are given to us by a Creator. Our government is simply set up by us to protect these negative rights.

The first and most important right is your right to life: the right to not be murdered. Without the right to life, all other rights are meaningless. Next is your right to liberty: your right to not be enslaved, or forced to do something against your will. Then you have you right to pursue happiness. The statement found only in the Declaration of Independence speaks of eudaimonia, the pursuit of human flourishing.

(Jefferson considered property rights to be under this umbrella as well. The Fifth Amendment protects your right to private property, as well as your right to life and liberty.)

All of the rights found in the Constitution are examples of negative rights, which the government exists to protect. With negative rights, your freedom is only limited by the rights of others. You have the freedom to do virtually anything, as long as you don't violate the rights of others. That's called liberty

Promoting Liberty

So how do we promote liberty? By protecting the negative rights of all citizens. By force if we must. The institution of government is established as a referee to protect negative rights of it's citizens, and severely punish those who violate the rights of others. Sometimes by having their rights proportionally violated. It may seem contradictory to use force to promote liberty. However, it is imperative that negative rights be protected, in order to uphold civilization.

If we want to  maintain a society where every citizen has maximum freedom, then each of us has certain responsibilities that we must fulfill.

Individualism

The foundation of conservative political philosophy is the idea of individualism. Simply put, individualism favors the freedom individuals over collective or state control. Individualism says that the rights and freedoms of the individual are more important than the goals of the collective. The rights of the individual cannot be sacrificed for the sake of the collective.

When I hear others talk about individualism, I often feel that the philosophy is misunderstood. In fact, I myself used to be confused about this core conservative idea. Many seem to confuse individualism with isolationism. They believe that individualists are sad and lonely people, who are anti-community. However, individualists are not anti-community. A community is of great benefit to all the individuals involved. Individualism only means that your rights are not to be violated by the community or by another individual.

All Equal

The greatest summation of the concept of individualism can be found in the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...”. Before you point out that this excludes women, I will point out that in this case “men” is supposed to be gender-neutral here. All humans are equal. Every gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion; criminals and upstanding citizens; every age, including the unborn.

We are equal in many ways. First off, we are all equal in essence. Philosophers debate the essential nature of humanity, but we all intuitively know what makes a human. Second, we are equal in rights. The aforementioned statement of the Declaration goes on to list just a few of our basic rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. I will describe more about what rights are in the next post.

We all have equal rights, and my rights do not take precedence over your rights. If you violate my rights, you have opened yourself up for reciprocation. Finally, because we all have equal rights, we are all equal before the law. That means, in court, I should have the same shot at justice as a rich person or a person of a different ethnicity.

Collectivism

Individualism stands opposed to the philosophy of collectivism. Collectivism says that the goals of the collective are more important that the rights of the individual. Collectivism has led to many atrocities throughout human history. Consider slavery, and how the slaves right to liberty was violated by the collective of slavery supporters, who felt the institution was necessary for their economy.

The Nazis also declared that whole groups of people didn't possess the right to life. Racism is always a form of collectivism, because it sees people in terms of groups (“races”), instead of as individuals. Finally, communism denies citizens the right to private property, in the name of benefiting the collective.

Illustration: Civil War

One of the greatest illustrations of individualism versus collectivism can be found in Captain America: Civil War. The story is written to highlight the differences between the two philosophies. Captain America beautifully embodies individualism. He believes signing the Sokovia Accords is a violation of his right to follow his conscience. He is not a lone-wolf isolationist, but instead teams up with other heroes (Team Cap) who believe as he does.

Team Iron-Man is very much on-the-nose with spelling out how evil collectivism is. Even Black Widow says at one point [paraphrased] “How we stay together is not as important as the fact that we stay together.” Think about the implications of that statement. Team Iron-Man must bully others into getting their way, all in the name of “safety”. In the end, Cap says that the core of what he believes in is individuals... which is the essence of individualism, conservatism, and America.

6 Essentials of Conservative-liberalism

There are six concepts that I feel are essential to conservatism. These aren't just “my six conservative principles”, instead these are the six principles that I propose are essential to conservatism. I have written them in a way that builds one on top of the other. Let me know if you can see how they are all connected.

Individualism

Individualism is the idea that all humans are equal. We are equal in essence, and therefore equal in rights, and therefore equal before the law. We are all one people, not to be divided by religion, political party, ethnicity, gender, or any such thing. Yet, each of us is a unique individual. We each have similarities and differences that we can find with each human being on Earth.

Negative rights

Negative rights are rights that only require inaction on the part of others. Your right to life, requires that others NOT kill you. Your right to free speech requires that others NOT stop you from talking (although you can't force them to listen, either). Negative rights boils down to your right to be left alone. This is in stark contrast with positive rights, which are entitlements to free stuff. Negative rights must be protected in order to maintain civilization, and those who violate negative rights must be punished (usually by having their rights proportionally violated).

Personal virtue and liberty

When we protect everyone's negative rights, we create a society with the purest form of liberty, but in order to maintain this pure liberty, we must have virtue, which can be defined as moral excellence. Someone who pursues moral excellence (virtue) can be expected to give liberty to his fellow-man. In fact liberty can be considered the most basic form of virtue.

He can also be expected to pursue the highest good for himself and others. He will seek mutually-beneficial trades, that will lift up both himself and his fellow-man. He will give to the poor, without government coercion. He will stay away from substances and activities which harm himself and those around him.

A perfectly moral population would need no government, but no one is perfectly moral. However, the more moral a population, the smaller government that they will require. This concept is the often unspoken core of conservatism. If we want greater liberty, we need to promote the highest virtue, in the greatest number of people. Virtue cannot be brought by force, from the top down, except for severely punishing those who violate negative rights. Instead virtue must be taught from the ground up.

Limited government

The government is an institution, set up by the people, to protect the negative rights of their citizens. The job of the government is to recognize different rights, create laws to protect those rights, and punish those who break the law. In America, we have a contract with our government called the Constitution. Our government promises to protect certain negative rights, and we promise not to overthrow them. At least that's supposed to be the idea.

Decentralization

Our Constitution limits the government's power, and the Tenth Amendment delegates all other powers, not mentioned, to the states or to the people. This protects us from centralizing power, which leads to more micro-managing from bureaucrats in the capitol. An effective government delegates power as much as possible. The federal government delegates power to the states, states to counties, cities, and towns, and from there to private institutions, families, and individuals.

Free enterprise

Free enterprise is based off of two negative rights: your right to your own property and your right to control how you use your property. When these rights are truly carried out, we create a free enterprise, and wealth is generated. Not money, but wealth. Wealth is generated primarily when there is a mutually-beneficial exchange. When both parties in a trade win, they walk away wealthier than they were before. This doesn't eliminate poverty, as we can never eliminate poverty. However, it can alleviate the severity of poverty.

So What Do You Think?

Please share this post if you liked it. Also, tell me what you think. Tweet at me @frank_perseo or comment on the Frank Talks Facebook page. Did I miss any essential concepts in conservatism? Do you disagree with any of the ones I presented? If so, please tell me why. I am curious to know.

The Political Spectrum – Politics 101

What does it mean to be a conservative? What does it mean to be a liberal? What do the left and the right on the political spectrum represent? What about the up and down (authoritarian to libertarian)? Where am I on the political spectrum? These were all questions that I was asking only 4 years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I was always interested in politics. Mostly due to my religious background, my disregard for controversy, and my desire to make a difference in the world. However, before 4 years ago, I was clueless when it came to understanding political philosophy.

I often refer to a "political awakening" that occurred four years ago (the summer before I left for Bible college). It started when I was talking to a mentor of mine, who is very politically involved, and I decided to ask him about the political spectrum. The conversation cleared up so many questions that today I call it my "Politics 101".

Spectrum of Government Control

If you google "political spectrum", there are many different versions out there. Everyone has their own opinion, and I have mine. This one, simply makes the most sense. The political spectrum that I use is one axis which measures the amount of government control. On the far left, there is totalitarianism, which is where the government controls virtually everything it can. On the far right, is not crazy Republicans like Rush Limbaugh, but instead those who believe there should be no government: anarchists.

In fact, this spectrum can be boiled down to five major positions: (left to right) totalitarianism, progressivism, liberalism, libertarianism, and anarchy. Totalitarianism is about virtually total government control. Progressivism is about progressing towards more government control. Libertarianism (for the purpose of this post) is about progressing towards less government control and presence (anarchy). Liberalism is about having a proper amount of government and personal freedom.

For some reason, virtually every spectrum that I found puts fascism on the far-right. However, if we are measuring the amount of control the government has, fascism is on the far-left, as a form of totalitarianism like communism. Fascism, communism, and socialism differ in style, but at their core they all rely heavily on government regulation.

Slippery Slope

I like to say that "Progressivism is a slippery slope to totalitarianism, and libertarianism is a slippery slope to anarchy." Not only that, but anarchy is a slippery slope to tyranny, which loops us right back to totalitarianism. Anarchy (having no government) could only work if everyone behaved and and no one violated their neighbors rights.

This notion goes against all of human experience (not to mention my Christian views of the nature of mankind). We know that the strong, if left unchecked, will terrorize the weak.

Liberalism

Liberalism is founded on the idea of individualism: the idea that all people are created equal. We may not all be equal in circumstances, but we are all equal in essence, before the Law. We all have the right to be left alone. For instance, three of your basic rights include the right to life (to not be killed), to liberty (to not be enslaved), and property (to not be robbed). In order to maintain these rights, we must have justice, and we must have an institution to facilitate justice.

Liberalism is about giving the people as much personal liberty as possible, without violating the rights of others. In order to do that, we must have a government that is properly limited. In America, our founders set up a contract between the people and the government, called the Constitution, to ensure both justice and liberty.

Conservatism

Here in America, those who we call "conservatives" are about conserving the philosophy of liberalism, through a strict (conservative) interpretation of the Constitution. These conservatives, also called conservative-liberals, are interested in conserving the balance of power, to give the people maximum liberty to pursue happiness.

Some of you may be shocked. Some of you probably disagree with what I am saying. Conservatives are not about freedom. "Conservatives are not liberal." We must remember that not everyone who calls himself a conservative is one. In my next blog, I want to spend some time writing about true conservative philosophy. Conservatism is about having the freedom to do what you want, so long as you don't infringe on anyone's basic rights.

So What Do You Think?

Please share this post if you liked it. Also, tell me what you think. Tweet at me @frank_perseo or comment on the Frank Talks Facebook page. Where do you line up on this spectrum? Do you think that I am wrong to characterize conservatives as the true liberals. 

Am I a Libertarian?

Well, that depends on how you define "libertarian". I can already hear the collective groan among my audience. Especially those who know me personally, and my propensity to be a word-nerd. Nonetheless, it truly does depend on how you define the word. I want to give some of my thoughts on libertarianism.

On this blog, I have defended the philosophy of conservatism. I like what conservative icon Ronald Reagan said of libertarianism "I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism". The cental concept of libertarianism is liberty: hence the name. Liberty is the freedom to do what you want, so long as you don't infringe on the rights of others. I love liberty, and I believe that we need to conserve certain principles in order to maintain our liberty.

Libertarians are a broad and diverse group. They have a wide array of views on different issues, because they believe in freedom of thought. Because of their diversity, it is so difficult to find a group on unifying beliefs among them. Should abortion be legal? Should we have a police force? What about a justice system? What about a military? Should we have our own party, or should we join with the two major parties? I was inspired to write this blog by this video, which talks about 6 different kinds of libertarians.

Personally, I simplify them down to two categories: modern and classical libertarians. I do this for simplicity's sake, and it helps me to better determine if a self-proclaimed libertarian is an ally. For me there are two factors which separate the two groups. Firstly, do you believe that there is a legitimate function of the institution of government? Second, do you believe that personal virtue is important among citizens to maintain liberty?

If you answer yes to both questions, I would classify you as more of a classical libertarian, and an ally. If you answer no to both question, you are a mordern libertarian, and we have some serious disagreements. (This does not necessarily mean that we can't be allies.)

Our founders are what I would consider classical libertarians. They believed that in order to maintain liberty, you need an appointed institution to dispense justice. Many of them were Christians, and believed that this institution was ordained by God, but could be kept in check by people.

They wrote the Constitution as a contract to limit the government, thereby maximizing the freedom of the citizens. Your freedom only ceases at the rights of others. Personally, I think that the idea of this contract is that if they keep up their end of the bargain, we the people will keep our end. If they break the contract, then we should rise up and replace them.

Our founders also believed in personal virtue, and self-sacrifice. Sometimes we give up the things that we want right now, in order to better ourselves and the community. Self-interest is fine, but self-sacrifice is also noble. It brings about human flourishing (the pursuit of happiness). Virtue is about caring for others. Why would you care whether or not you violate someone else's rights, if you don't care about them? Or if you don't fear the consequences. If everyone was virtuous, if they cared about their fellow-man, we wouldn't need to worry about them violating each other's rights.

It is in the best interest of liberty, and small government, to more people who are as virtuous as possible.

In Summary

Libertarians are those who believe in liberty. Some believe that this is best acheived by throwing off all government, and no longer imposing any standard of virtue. I believe that teaching citizens to be as virtuous as possible* and by maintaining and small and limited government, we can have the purest form of liberty anywhere in the world.

This limited government is given to us in the Constitution. We must maintain a conservative interpretation of the government, to keep those in power from overstepping their bounds. This is why I am a conservative, and I believe conservatism is best for libertarianism.

“If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals — if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.”― Ronald Reagan

*Personally I advocate Christianity and Christian ethics as the most virtuous way to live.

Be the Change

"Be the change that you want to see in the world." That's my senior-year advice, to all the upcoming freshmen, and to anyone reading this. It's the advice that sent me on a journey, leading me to start this blog. I started this blog to share my personal thoughts on my faith, my political views, and on living a well-rounded life. It was this advice that sparked my interest in well-roundedness and consequently into politics.

I knew that if I wanted to bring real and positive change, I need to be informed on the issues and to exercise my right to vote! For the past four years I have immersed myself in learning about politics. For the past year, I have followed the presidential election with great anticipation.

More Than Politics

I have informed myself on what the candidates believe. I have educated my friends and encouraged them to vote. I have made my opinions known. I voted. I have exercised my free speech and my right to vote. All of this is futile if that is all I do.

Even if my dream candidate is nominated and elected, that will not fix the problem with our country. It would only begin to fix our problem. It is the Left that teaches our problems are in our circumstances. We need more laws, we need a better President, we need to make this a safer place. On the other hand, the Right is founded on the philosophy of individualism. The idea that the individual has the ability to make life good for himself, if he wants to.

Many of the issues that the Left and Right talk about are far to complex to pass a law, or some executive order, and simply fix. Americans, throughout history have never really trusted the government to do stuff. We won't get old waiting for bureaucrats to decide to do something. We are do-it-yourself people. We start a business or non-profit, and get that problem fixed, if at all possible.

Be A Better Person

No man is an island. Nothing happens in a vacuum. If you want to see a better world, first you must seek to be a better person. Then, when you discover what works, you should encourage others to do the same.

So many issues will not be solved by passing another law, or by some bureaucratic action. Poverty, obesity, violence, education, abortion, joblessness and many more issues could be solved by individuals refusing to accept their situation. By individuals changing their circumstances, instead of letting the circumstances change them. You cannot change circumstances on a global scale, but you can change circumstances within your reach.

Well-Rounded Life

As I have written in previous blogs, I am a firm believer in six arenas of the human experience. We all have them, and we can all grow in each of them. They are spiritual*, intellectual, physical, social, occupational*, and financial.

*(I want to take a minute to explain spiritual and occupational, to clarify my meaning. The spiritual arena is not just for those who believe in the supernatural. The spiritual arena includes your worldview philosophy, your moral philosophy, and your moral practices. For instance, an atheist might have an empirical/naturalist philosophy, and they may live by a utilitarian ethical system. Occupation is about what you do with your time: your job, volunteer work, recreation, or learning new skills.)

The spiritual aspect is the most import, which is why I always list it first. Our founders knew that this Republic was for a moral people: a people that would seek the best for one another. Only a moral people will care to respect the rights of others. An immoral people will simply want their own way, which leads to tyranny.

It is important for us all to grow intellectually. Not simply to receive a diploma, but to be readers, researchers, critical thinkers, and to love the Truth. American obesity will not be solved by government programs, but instead by individuals being motivated to improve their health, and motivating their friends to do the same.

As far as the social, occupational, and financial arenas: there are an countless ways in which these can impact political issues. You only need a bit of imagination to see how these areas can impact society. The social arena is the one that inspired this whole post. I was thinking about how it takes a village to raise a kid. This goes back to the moral arena. Kids are taught morals, not from textbooks, but from relationships. Particularly from their parents. However, I have never seen a well adjusted kid who didn't have mentors outside of their parents. It takes a village to raise a kid, which requires parents to have a good social circle.

I Could Go On

I literally could go on for several pages, on this topic, but I hope that I have demonstrated my point and inspired you. Don't wait for some government official to change the world. Be a well-rounded person. Be the person that you think everyone should be. Be the best version of yourself. Then inspire others to do the same. If we all did that... we could change the world.

Fame

I'm sure we've all dreamed of being famous. We all would love to be universally loved and respected. However, some of us may have decided in the end that we value other things more than popularity (like privacy or sanity). Nonetheless, if you are in any kind of business, you are most likely looking for a way to boost the recognition of your product/brand/business.

Wouldn't you love your brand to be globally recognized? Whether you are a blogger, a YouTuber, an entrepreneur, or you aspire to be a Hollywood celebrity. Too bad we can't all be world famous like Coca-Cola or Brad Pitt. ... Or can we?

Is the Hall of Fame Getting Crowded?

I mean, is it just me, or are there more celebrities in the world these days? It seems like all the time there are more and more people that I am supposed to be able to recognize. When I am watching a movie or TV show, I will often google the actors and peruse through their filmographies. I'm not obsessed, I don't read tabloids, but I like to know a bit about these guys and their work. I find it interesting, and I know I'm not alone in this, because our culture is obsessed with celebrities.

In my time studying the who's who in Hollywood, I've often wondered something: is the number of celebrities in the world growing? Surely, in ancient history there were very few figures who were world renowned, or even who's reputation spread through multiple nations. I'm sure this changed as the world began to become more connected.

Impact of Technology

Telegraphs, radio, movies, and television and many other inventions made it possible for people to become world famous. Not only that, but they allowed more and more people to achieve that world-fame. The connectivity that these technologies provided, allowed us to share our cultures more easily with other countries. However, they still limit recognition to the elite few.

Then the Internet comes along and completely changes the game. Internet innovations allow regular people to connect with an audience, and to grow that audience. The internet even created a new class of fame: internet-famous. These people are known by thousands and millions of people, but are not quite household names. Internet-fame is to recognition, what the middle-class is to economic status.

How Wealth is like Fame

Wealth is not a single pie which needs to be divided evenly among all the people. A better analogy for wealth would come from agriculture: seeds and crops, which have the ability to multiply. Through hard work, innovation and trade, we can create new wealth. In two previous blogs, I have argued for this concept. Both of these blog posts were inspired by this video, which explains the concept a little more fully than I do.

Recognition is capital in the same way the money is. I think anyone would agree that recognition is always an asset for your brand. Much like wealth, recognition is a resource with very little limits. Not every brand or personality can achieve the status of being a house-hold name. However, there are two factors which are increasing: the number of people in the world, and connectivity through the Internet.

Our culture treats wealth and fame like they are inherently evil things, like those who pursue them must be selling out. I would contend that neither is inherently evil, it all depends on what you do with your money or recognition. You can use wealth to donate to charity, give people jobs, or buy a bunch of equipment and fight crime as the Batman. Fame can also be used for good. You can use recognition (or today, a following) to bring light to issues, events and even to good artwork.

How to Grow Your Recognition

Do you remember the end of the Muppet Movie, where Kermit and the Muppets finally make it to Hollywood, find a producer, and say to him "We'd like the rich and famous contract please." Yeah, I'd like that contract too. No seriously. Where can I find this contract? I would like to know. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that.

You grow your audience the same way that you grow your wealth: through hard work, innovation and trade. You work hard and get creative to make content that people will enjoy. Innovations in internet advertising allow us to target specific audiences. While free-trade happens all through the advertising process, one of the greatest ways to expand your reach is through collaboration.

Collaborating with other creators is like free-trade: you can both grow your reach, and walk away with more followers. You want to collaborate with creators who make content similar to your own. We've all seen stars on YouTube who have grown this way. When YouTube stars first started collaborating, that's when the community (and the individual stars) really started to take off. By continually creating more (and better) content, you can continue to grow your reach.

As your recognition grows, you can collect bigger profits. As you collect bigger profits, you can hire more people... and become Batman.

So that's why I'm not afraid to say that I want to be rich and famous. Please share this post if you liked it. I just really want to become Batman. Also, tell me what you think. Tweet at me @frank_perseo or comment on the Frank Talks facebook page. 

Cut the Cable

I was four years old, maybe younger. My sister and I woke up early one day to watch the relatively new show called Barney and Friends. There may have been a bowl of cereal in my hands as I watched the purple dinosaur prance around the screen. Then, at a point where I remember my young curiosity being peaked, the show cut off. I can still feel the confusion and panic that I felt in that moment. I was beginning to meltdown, but luckily my big sister knew what to do.

She ran to our parents' room, and I followed her to ask what had happened. My mom was only half-awoken from her sleep when she muttered words that my little mind couldn't possibly understand at that age: "I cancelled our cable." What does that mean? Does that mean I will never know what Barney was about to say? (I still, to this day, do not know.) What were we going to do with our morning? Life as we know it had come to an end.

My Parents are Kinda Hipsters

My parents cancelled their cable... before it was cool. My understanding is that this was all my mom's decision. She just one day decided that it wasn't worth the money. A few years ago, I read an article saying that many families have started doing the same. I like to think of my mom as the ultimate trend setter.

I grew up on only a limited number of movies, and a lot of playing outside. At this point I usually get the gawking looks, the disbelief. I used to think that people were just teasing, but turns out that they actually can't believe I grew up without TV (and there are a lot of movies I still haven't seen). It shocks me that people can't fathom life without a television.

How did I turn out?

I was still hooked, however. Whenever we were out, if the television was on, my face was glued to it. I think the forbidden-ness of it was what attracted me to it. This may also be what has attracted me to the film industry. Since I was at least 10, I have said that I wanted to be a director. Really, I wanted to be a man with many hats (like my hero, Ben Franklin), but director (or something in film) has always been one of those hats.

Nine years ago (2007) was when we first got WiFi in our house. That same summer I discovered a site called YouTube, and I immediately began to make up for lost time. Over time I found so many shows that I could watch online, with no extra charge to my parents. Many people have discovered this phenomenon, which is probably why there exists this trend of people cancelling their cable.

My question: why hasn't everyone joined this movement? I promise, I won't look down my nose at those who choose to keep cable. My main purpose here is to talk about the benefits of internet-based media, but I will also point out some benefits of cancelling cable as well.

Save money

The first benefit of cancelling your cable is the most obvious: the money you save. This was important to my parents when they cancelled. If you can afford the time and the money to keep your cable, feel free to. However, if you are struggling with finances, I would strongly recommend cancelling. Think of all the money you will free up. Fortunately, with this point I am most likely preaching to the choir.

FOMO- Fear of Missing Out

I would suspect that this is a key reason that people don't want to cancel, they fear being out of the loop with all the cool shows going on. Let me tell you, I've lived my whole life out of the TV loop. Trust me, it's not that bad. I think, deep down inside, it's been the one thing that has inspired me to be unique. I'm not interested in following the trends, I am interested in setting them.

More options

I don't know about all of my readers, but I grew up in a very religious background. I always hear religious people complain about how evil the entertainment media has become. They complain about how Hollywood keeps pushing an agenda. My grand-pop (who was in no way religious) also used to lament that televisions was "nothing but a vast wasteland". We can debate that presumption in the comments, but so many people who believe this still have their cable.

Today you can seek out and find media that is more agreeable to you. Now I think that you shouldn't only consume media that you agree with. I believe that the mind is sharpened by being exposed to difficult problems. However, you can stop banging your head against the wall. Lift up your eyes. Look around you. There are more options to choose from.

Support small businesses

I hear about the importance of this all the time, from both the left, the right and the undecided. Well, maybe we all can start practicing what we preach. I am not saying that you absolutely must cancel your cable, or that you can never go see another Hollywood film again. I am saying to diversify. I personally prefer independent media to mainstream media.

When you support independent media with your money, you are helping small businesses grow. You are giving young artist/entrepreneurs a shot at living on their dream. I am not quite "anti-corporation" but there are 6 corporations which run all the mainstream media in America. I am not saying "down with the man", but I would rather see the shrinking of the mainstream media, and the growth of independent media.

So, tell me what you think. Tweet at me @frank_perseo or comment on the Frank Talks Facebook page. Do you still have your cable? Do you consume a lot of independently produced media? If so, what are some of your favorite sources? Has this blog given you something to think about? I am curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading!