PA-15: Jake Towne on War, Civil Liberties and Freedom of Speech

From the Jake Towne campaign for Congress in PA-15:

Concerning the recent media circus concerning the controversial band that was removed from this concert, I thought it best to say a few words not just about the freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, but also how best we should use these freedoms while moving forward as a campaign.

First of all, the Constitution is often misunderstood. It’s purpose is NOT to run everyone’s life, but rather the exact opposite – to PROTECT the people from the government. Our founders recognized that governments are capable of horrific tyrannies. If we look through history, the examples are all too frequent. While it is easy to forget the horrors of war while it is not in front of your face – especially on beautiful days like today – the last century of humankind has been extremely bloody.

Almost all of the killing has been done by governments and political groups. During the past 100 years, an estimated 170 million have died at the hands of governments, and of these perhaps up to 70% were civilians.

In my travels abroad, I’ve walked through Nazi concentration camps, the Killing Fields in Cambodia, the site of the Nanjing Massacre in China and places all over Asia where the Japanese committed WW2 atrocities, and these experiences has affected me deeply.

I used to often wondered why these state-sponsored killings occur until I came to the realization that tyranny ends only when we as individuals cease to support our own serfdom.

The politicians whisper “Give us all your liberties, and we will keep you safe.” The truth is that without the liberty and rule of law guaranteed under the Constitution, there is no safety – from the government.

Read the whole thing.