The Sword and the Pen are Equally Mighty

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff

One of the core principles of the Wyoming Liberty Group is the support of informed citizens who stand their ground. Human beings as a group have two strengths that elevate them above all other species on Earth- the desire and ability to make war; and the desire and ability to remember. Virtually all of the physical success of the human species can be laid at the feet of these two characteristics.

War made humanity crafty and adaptable, and fostered the creation of communities to protect the child bearers and the children.Without this protection, not only from weather, hunger and animal incursions, but as well as from other humans intent on taking resources from those who had accumulated them, whole tribes died out. With the ability to band together and protect members of a tribe, nations were founded and persevered.

On the other hand, the ability to write down information, to remember clearly what was said and what was meant by it enabled the creation of legacies which could be built upon and improved.This led to incredible advances in religion, engineering, medicine, law and history. Without these two tools and abilities, humanity would quickly be annihilated by the forces of nature or doomed to "re-invent the wheel" every two or three generations.

As humanity developed greater and greater technological advances, these were put to service in the making of war or improving the survivability of people.This knowledge was distributed unevenly, and certainly unequally.However, enough reason and perspective accumulated so that in the 1770's a remarkable event occurred. Revolution broke out the American Colonies of Great Britain, and a new approach to government was crafted, one that united the powers of both the sword and the pen- the United States Constitution and Amendments, specifically for the power of the sword and the pen, the Tenth Amendment:

THE TENTH AMENDMENT
of the U.S. Constitution

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the
States respectively, or to the people.

For the first time in history, a method of government was enacted that combined the power of the sword with the power of the pen and declared it to be the possession of the people of that country, not the emperor, or king, or some dictator or warlord.From this revolution came some truly remarkable achievements. For one, there only two currencies in the world that still have any value after 100 years- the US Dollar and the British Pound. Every other currency from every other country has been replaced or eliminated in the last 100 years.

Why?Because of the power of the sword- our ability to defend our country from those who would plunder it- and the rule of law, which aims to create equal opportunity for all. These two characteristics are immutably part of the greatness and quality of life in the United States.

In these times, both of those core principles are under grievous attack in the US. The Roman Empire fell because (simple explanation) there was no stable mechanism for the transfer of power between leaders, leading to instability and corruption, and those who would invade the Roman Empire learned how to overcome the Roman Legions as war technology improved. Now in the US, our transfer of power is threatened by the constant questioning of the legitimacy of our leaders, the use of questionable or outright fallible voting machinery and the shift in warfare from armies and navies to cyber warfare and space.

It is critical that real information be made available to voter's as elections are decided- and that citizens may rely on the results of those elections to be open, honest and fair.Instead what we are getting is the constant hounding of the media that delivers opinions and positions as if they were facts; voting machines that are liable to be hacked or compromised and seemingly are often enough to call into question the legitimacy of the vote, and a shockingly naïve view of the world and the necessity of our firm and capable defense as well as a realistic and assertive foreign policy.

It is time for those who would reduce the United States to a benefit producing machine for the public unions and the victim class to wake up and understand that there is no free lunch, and that all the wealth that they covet and want to redirect is dependent on liberty and justice, not on "crisis" management and victim compensation. United States citizens are the beneficiaries of centuries of skilled and passionate negotiations based on the power of the government residing in the people, the most amazing combination of the power of the sword and the pen that has ever been achieved.

Those who wish the benefits of their hard work and dreams to remain under their control and not to be hijacked by an ever growing bureaucracy and agendas bent on attempting to produce an equality of outcome, to look at the issues and the politicians with a clear eye and vote for the power of government to stay with the people. Don't be deceived by biased media and false promises.

Look for those who will reduce regulation, create transparent government, reserve the choice of how to educate children to the parents and stop trying to ration and limit health care. And vote for them, and insist on fair and honest election procedures, such as paper ballots and risk limiting audits. In this way we can build on this amazing legacy of justice and liberty far into the future, reserving both the power of the pen and the power of the sword to the people.