This just about sums it up... Great quote from Edmund Burke.

"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites. ... Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." - Edmund Burke

For a few thousand years that "controlling power upon will and appetite" was provided by Religion. Here in the 21st century we are way too smart, civilized, modern, and evolved for that crap and THAT IS WHAT MAKES US UNQUALIFIED for Civil Liberty! Those Liberals, Marxists, Communists, Progressives, Anarchists, etc. all say they want freedom, but it is their revulsion to putting "moral chains upon their own appetites" that makes them unfit. See, they don't believe in Morality because they can find no basis for it without invoking God. And god forbid anyone should do that! (pun intended)

Before (and contemporaneously with) Religion, the controlling power (moral authority) was provided by Kings, Pharaohs, Emperors, etc. The king demanded civility under pain of death. But Judeo-Christian Morality, which is built up, nurtured, and thrives in the Soul, is what sounded the death-knell for Monarchy and other forms of despotic rule. The more Judeo-Christian influence in a society, the less meddling was needed (or tolerated) by the government. This has been true throughout Europe and the Americas, Australia, the Philippines, parts of Africa, etc., excepting occasional bloody revolts by the intemperate, jealous, and immoral. It is true in Japan, Korea, China, and India also, but not because of Judeo-Christian ethics. I believe Taoism is to credit for that.

Another pertinent quote:

“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still” - Lao Tzu circa 550 BC

The converse of what Burke said is, "The MORE of it there is within, the LESS there need be without." Think about that... the more moral self-control you have over yourself, the less you will need to be controlled by others.

The moral of the story is: The only form of government fit for those who refuse to control themselves is Communist Dictatorship. The only form of government fit for those who will control themselves, exercise moral restraint, and respect the rights of others, is a Libertarian Constitutional Republic. So far anyway...

Another Quote:

“Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time." - Winston Churchill

And so, I say that it is moral ambivalence, nurtured by the left via the abortion culture, criminal acceptance, denial of natural human physiological roles (homosexuality, gay marriage), denial of personal responsibility, religious hostility (ACLU), intellectual vanity (university professor insanity), abhorrence of logic (animal rights?), and multi-culturalism that will prevent ANY OF US from ever being free. As long as we refuse to control ourselves and act within our nature, we will be controlled. And a socialist society is no society at all... it is farm animals in a pen.

Steve Casas