From the Radio Free Michigan archives ftp://141.209.3.26/pub/patriot If you have any other files you'd like to contribute, e-mail them to bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu. ------------------------------------------------ [from the Charter of the Digest of Personal Freedom] The Digest of Personal Freedom exists as a definitive forum to closely examine the many issues of individual freedom and rights, their infringements and meaning, as they exist today and in the future. Issues of individual freedom have become central to many debates in politics, economics, and American business practices, and are too often disregarded in the interests of the "public good".... The DPF examines many different facets of the most critical issues facing us today, with individual freedom as our one and only agenda. Politics: Through all of politics, there can only be two essential positions, regardless of any professed "party affiliation" : pro- freedom or contra-freedom. The two-party system is the best political structure we've found so far to protect people from the absolute tyranny of any single party. Nevertheless, ...either affiliation is directly concerned with continuing to govern effectively: that's what public officials get paid to do. However, we should never allow ANY elected official or body, whether Democrat, Republican, or anything else, pursue ANY policy of "effective governance" when it must directly violate the principles of individual freedom that America was founded upon to be "implemented".... Economics: At DPF, we wholeheartedly support the free and unhindered operation of the market system; a "free market" by definition. State interference into the market, which supports businesses that would otherwise fail ("protectionism"), hampers the inherent self-regulation of free-markets, or strives to "create opportunities" through legislation regardless of consumer demand, devastate the economic well-being of the country, and only create publicly approved illusions of a freely operating market system for the political and/or economic benefit of individual groups or people.... Personal Freedom: The drafting of the American Constitution was one of the single most important events in history. For the first time a nation was founded upon the freedom of the people which belonged to it. No other government had ever recognized the seem- ingly obvious fact that people would support a government whose essential duty was to uphold and maintain individual freedom for every one of its constituents, and reduce the "power of government" to its basic role of providing national safety (through its police powers), and defining the national character by the "will of the people" only.... ..Because of the fact that totalitarianism is often the "path of least resistance" that DPF exists, and by examining the "wolf in sheep's clothing," we give you an insightful and provocative look into the myriad of important social and political issues that face all of us today. "Freedom is not something that anybody can be given: freedom is something people take and people are as free as they want to be." - James Baldwin (c) 1994, Meade Communications. Copies may be freely circulated provided no alteration of the original text is made. ------------------------------------------------ (This file was found elsewhere on the Internet and uploaded to the Radio Free Michigan archives by the archive maintainer. All files are ZIP archives for fast download. E-mail bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu)