Cato Quote

"By Liberty I understand the Power which every Man has over his own Actions, and his Right to enjoy the Fruits of his Labour, Art, and Industry, as far as by it he hurts not the Society, or any Members of it, by taking from any Member, or by hindering him from enjoying what he himself enjoys. The Fruits of a Man's honest Industry are the just Rewards of it, ascertained to him by natural and eternal Equity, as is his Title to use them in the Manner which he thinks fit: And thus, with the above Limitations, every Man is sole Lord and Arbitrer of his own private Actions and Property."

by:	Cato John Trenchard (1662-1723) & Thomas Gordon (169?-1750)
Source:	Letter 62 (1722) of Cato's Letters (1720-1723), quoted by Ronald Hamowy, "Cato's Letters, John Locke, and the Republican Paradigm", in Edward J. Harpham (Ed.), John Locke's Two Treatises of Government:  New Interpretations (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992), p. 157.
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Categories:	Art, Equality, Liberty, Property, Responsibility, Society
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True. Yet our government takes a piece of our "Fruits", saying we owe them a piece of our pie. We don't owe the government anything.  -- Joe, Rochester, MI      1
-- KS, Somewhere,USA
-- astha, hardwar
There are only two possible economic systems; barter and slavery. God commanded a barter system: "Thou shalt not steal." The Constitution mandates a barter system of gold and silver coins. Art.1, Sec.10. The most repeated lie is that government spends money, they have no need for money as long as all of us are satisfied with strips of paper and will risk our lives to get it,. Congress has the power to coin money but they have not coined any currency since 1963, They stamp out copper tokens wthout limit and the tokens are erroneously called "money" along with the paper tokens that the IRS said "are not dollars." Two of the world's greatest problems are the failure of people to distinguish between money and wealth and their failure to distinguish between freedom and slavery.  -- Winstin Smith--Orwell's friend, Everywhere USA      2
My drug of choice is caffeine, as in coffee. Cigarettes and liquor are legal and sold everywhere but God help you if you get caught with marijuana which is not nearly as harmful. The congress knows that this War on Drugs does more harm than good but none have the guts to say so. On the web, see LEAP.cc.  -- jim k, Austin,Tx
The Constitution was a document that not so much recognized the individual noble as sovereign but, was written from the individual sovereign's perspective, that he being sovereign, was free at law with unlimited, un-infringed, and unalienable rights (to life, liberty, property, etc.); with all constitutional structuring, outlining, limitations, expressions of law, equity, and justice, etc. (without exception) being directed at and, uniquely concerning the sovereign's representatives. No election, no procedure (parliamentary / governmentally or otherwise), and no lawful act would / could change that, each and every, any and all individuals being endowed unalterably by man's creator. Any amendment or change thereto was by the 'law of contradiction' void ab initio in the sovereign's representative republic and constitutionally defined home of the free and land of the brave. Enslavement by theft of the noble laborer's fruit is lawfully unconstitutional, a crime and a most heinous enforcement of tyranny. The unconstitutional statist theocracy infesting this land is a most demonic usurper, and dictatorial enforcer of slavery.  -- Mike, Norwalk      1
This sentiment used to be common knowledge among freeman. It is right on.  -- E Archer, NYC      1
-- Wayne, Naples
Mike, one of the few things I can agree with Hamilton on is that the constitution was a frail and useless document. Too weak, too vague, and therefore too easily manipulated. The only thing it managed to do successfully was centralize power in a federal govt.  -- Nick
-- Ronw13, ID

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