Paul Bunyan, Superman, and the Tooth Fairy are all myths that continue to this day.  However, two myths that standout in today’s political climate are one, the political spectrum runs horizontally left to right from liberal to conservative and two, the natural laws of human relations do not exist and have no meaning today. 

 

The truth is the political spectrum has to do with how much government interference in the life of the individual one believes is appropriate.  The myth is the liberal wants government officials to interfere with the individual’s life and pay for all individual activity while the conservative on the right wants no government interference or control of the individual’s life and to have government pay for no individual activity. 

 

In reality, the political spectrum, instead of being a straight horizontal line, is actually shaped like a baseball diamond reflecting the true nature of one’s belief of how much government interference there ought to be in the individual’s life.  An individual’s life has two components, economic and personal.  The liberal, located on third base, values personal freedom and only wants government to control the economic life of the individual in order to protect the individual from others who would not provide a certain income, job benefits, and make certain only “honest” businesses get to sell to the public. 

 

The conservative, located on first base, values economic liberty and desires government officials to intervene in the individual’s personal life to protect the individual from pornography, drugs, and sexual activity.  In other words, the liberal believes the individual is smart enough to decide activities about his personal life, but not smart enough to decide activities about his economic life.  The conservative on the other hand believes the individual is wise enough to decide how to organize his economic life, but not his personal life. 

 

Authoritarians, located at home plate, stand against both economic and personal liberty and would prefer government officials to dictate the individual’s entire life. 

 

Centrists, located on the pitcher’s mound, tend to hold different values on the amount of individual freedom one is to possess depending on the particular issue at hand.  For instance, a centrist might like government officials to dictate who one could marry, and at the same time favors a minimum wage law. 

 

Libertarians are located at second base and hold dear that the individual has the right to decide his economic and personal life without any interference from government.  As a result, they also hold that individuals bear the full responsibility for all personal and economic decisions individuals make in life, and that the only purpose for which government exists is to prosecute those who would initiate force of any sort against the free will of another.  The political spectrum is more than just left and right.  Take the quiz at www.theadvocates.org to find out more. 

 

The second myth is that because 21st century mankind lives in a world where short and long range nuclear warhead missiles, suitcase bombs, germ warfare, and so-called dirty bombs exist, the natural law of human relations becomes non-existent.  However, like the physical law of gravity, the law of human relations has always existed, exists today, and will continue to exist. 

 

Because mankind has learned how to harness the law of gravity, mankind has been able to use it to his advantage in getting to the moon, and traveling around the world.  The natural law of gravity works, and if used wisely, can work to one’s advantage.  Of course, if not used wisely, death and destruction ensue. 

 

The same goes for the law of human relations.  If used wisely, such as minding one’s own business, helping another in need, respecting another human being regardless of one’s differences of opinion, religious belief, ethnicity, or gender, the law of human relations works quite well.  Doing unto others as one would like to have done to himself is a pretty wise motto to follow.  It generates peace.  One can see the law in action each time one goes to the store to voluntarily purchase something or engage with all of the voluntary groups that help others in need. 

 

If one chooses to disobey the law of human relations such as passing legislation to force others to one’s belief or invading another country, then the repercussions can be devastating and destructive just as much as by not obeying the law of gravity.  Because there are individuals who do not follow and work with the law of human relations, one must be prepared to defend oneself from such an individual if attacked, not use any weapon to initiate force against another.  The fact that nuclear warheads exist today does not negate the law of human relations.  Leaving individuals alone and minding one’s own business is a good philosophy to follow if peace is truly desired.

 

Tomorrow at 6:30 PM at the Yuma County Development Services building located at 26th Street and Avenue B, the People for the USA Yuma group is holding a candidate forum for those interested in finding out about the individuals who want to be a member of the Yuma City Council.

 

“Ben Franklin” will be at the Booth Machinery conference hall November 1 at 7 PM to provide an evening for the Yuma community to visit with the sage of America.

 

Dr. Earl Taylor, president of the National Center for Constitutional Studies, will discuss the applicability of the Constitution to many of today’s situations December 4 also at the Booth Machinery conference hall at 6:30 PM.