While some believe in a left-right political spectrum, others believe that an up-down political spectrum makes more sense. In this alternative view, one pole is characterized by a “bottom-upward” political system that expertly helps us to defend our equal innate God-given rights, while the other pole is characterized by a “top-downward” political system that arrogantly seeks to rule society, and all other political systems involve some degree of compromise between these two extremes.
Ronald Reagan spoke of this perspective in 1964 when he eloquently stated: “You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man’s age-old dream—the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order—or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path.”
America’s relatively-virtuous founders wisely established a very “bottom-upward” political system, which was a great blessing for us—but we Americans have since passively permitted (or even actively aided) our political system to slowly degenerate over two centuries toward the opposite pole, to our detriment—not only at the federal level but at all levels of our political system, including Provo.
In 2015, Utah’s libertarian Libertas Institute attempted to evaluate how well Utah’s 50 most populous cities have been maintaining municipal governments that protect individual liberty, private property, and free enterprise—and, sadly, it ranked Provo 45th on its list. You can read more about this low ranking (plus LI’s rationale for it) on the webpage linked below. And you may consider these rights-violations in greater detail elsewhere on these other webpages.
(For more Problems, please see Corrupting Law Enforcement.)
The U. S. Bill of Rights may be treated too often as if it’s void, including here in Provo.
References:
Free Provo 