This article is a MUST READ – it explains how respect for personal freedom/individual rights lead to a properous economy and a robust society whereas the acceptance of the docctrie that government intervention/force can “fix” things or engineer utopia on earth leads to ruin:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/the_economic_crisis_is_only_a.html

“Our serious economic crisis can be attributed to the abandonment of constitutional principles that began long ago. Establishment of a central bank was anathema to our Founding Fathers. Arguably, the establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913 was unconstitutional.
No serious economist can overlook the key role played by the Federal Reserve in causing the current crisis. Nor can one overlook its debauch of the currency, though one of its founding purposes was to protect the value of the currency. Since the Federal Reserve’s formation, the purchasing power of the dollar has fallen by 96 percent. Most of that occurred after 1971, when the country left the gold standard and the Fed was without limitations.

Government is generally precluded from entering the realm of economic matters by the Constitution. Once that restriction was ignored, there was no limit to the harm that could be inflicted. Economics itself is a self-correcting system under most circumstances. However, in a world where government is unconstrained, politicians see every minor discomfort as an opportunity for an intervention and a means to gain more power.

All intervention contravenes the corrective mechanism of markets, generally worsening the original problem. This leads to demands for additional political intervention. Each one worsens the problem and weakens the economy’s ability to self-correct. Interventionism is not self-sustaining, as explained by Ludwig von Mises:

An essential point in the social philosophy of interventionism is the existence of an inexhaustible fund which can be squeezed forever. The whole system of interventionism collapses when this fountain is drained off: The Santa Claus principle liquidates itself”

——————————————————————————————————————————————

The basic premise of the American Revolution is that the people are soverign and capable of self-government – we do not need an elite or ruling class of our “betters” or “enlighted” to run things or tell us how best to live – every man is equal to all others under the law and all are endowed with inalienable rights from the Creator (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).

Government derives its powers from the consent of the people and exsist solely for the protection of individual rights and liberties. All rights and liberties are inherent in the people and are always retained by the people – government is simply the collective agent for protection of these rights in situations where individual are unable or incapable of providing for protection of our own rights (ie domestically against common criminals – that is to say citizens who violate the rights of other citizens and externally against foreign threats to our soverignty).

We must get back to core conservative principles if we are to regain our liberty, prosperity, and social health. Here is are the essential principles we must consistently apply to every issue and question before us, politically and otherwise:

- Personal Freedom

- Equal Protection for Individual Rights

- Free Markets

- Consitituional/Limited Government

- Federalism