THE PATRIOT PARTY

Introduction:

We believe that ideas matter. It is fundamental to our nation that we, the people, do the hard work of thinking about ideas - that we converse with one another, engage with opposing viewpoints and opinions, have civil discussion and debates. By doing so, we sharpen one another's minds, we build respect for one another, and most importantly, ideas may compete on the battlefield of our hearts and minds - so that better ideas may win.

We challenge every Patriot to be familiar with the ideas and to develop well reasoned positions on them. It is your responsibility - your civil duty to this nation - to bring ideas to light; to return civil discussion and debate to the American political landscape, to the American household, and to share these ideas with fellow Americans. A well reasoned position cannot be explained by a headline or a 10 second audio clip; we must do the work of thinking for ourselves. Since the days of our Founders, A love of Freedom, Equality, and a passion for civil discourse and discussion of ideas is what Made America Great. Let's do that Again.

And for this reason, Patriots do not want shouting matches or name-calling political and media theater as usual. Until you've read through and fully understand the ideas of Patriots, you have no place among us, and no place to criticize us. When ideas compete in the hearts and minds of men and women, the best ideas WILL win. We believe our ideas are best, and we want to show you why. We hope you'll take the time to join us in the conversation. And if you have better ideas to add, Patriots are always willing to learn from you, and refine our ideas - ever pursuing Liberty, Equality, and Justice.

The Patriot Party believes in Big Freedom. Absolute Freedom. Personal Freedom. Absolute freedom of speech. Absoute freedom of religion. Absolute freedom of the press. Absolute freedom to bear arms. And we accept that with Big Personal Freedom, comes Big Personal responsibility. Actions have consequences, and Free people should be fully allowed to take actions and bear responsbility for the consequences of their actions. We'll elaborate more on the ideas of Big Freedom as this website continues to be expanded in the future, but for now let's explore the oft cited limitation on free speech:

what about yelling "fire" in a crowded theater?

It's a rather simple idea to explore. People are free to speak, however they are responsible for their speech. Imagine a theater crowded with a vocal bachelor party. Throughout the film, the party is animated, cheering, yelling at the screen, etc. A moment in the film arrives where a cannon is to be fired. and the crowd yells along with a countdown on screen "Three... Two... One... FIRE!" and the cannon fires. The word "Fire" was just yelled in a crowded theater, yet no one minds. Panic did not ensue. Because context matters. It was known, it was expected. Speech itself is not and should never be illegal. However, a call to action has consequences. Imagine now a quiet theater, a tense movie playing, and "Fire" is unexpectedly yelled, the crowd panics because they have been called to action. If there really was no fire, but someone is trampled in an emergency evacuation, or the theater loses customers or suffers property damage, the caller may be held responsible for the consequences their speech - they called for action. Though the speech itself was free.

The Patriot Party believes in Small Government. Limited Government. Constitutional Government. Since the only tool of government for enacting power lies first with legislation, legislation is by default an additive process. Meaning, each new action of government builds upon previous acts. The default, and often only, action of the government to deal with ANY new situation or problem is to add more legislation. and more. and more.

And thus Government has a tendency to grow ever larger. Not necessarily through machinations of evil men with sour hearts, it happens automatically, slowly, and by default. Patriots must therefore exercise constant vigilance to detect and eradicate this governmental scope creep. To keep government within its original scope and bound to the consent we the people offer it. Pursuing small government maximizes freedom and minimizes footholds for tyranny to take root.

The Patriot Party believes in America First policy, because the Patriot Party believes in America Only Policy. Do not mistake this this to mean Patriots do not care about other countries or other people, or that their worth as human beings is somehow greater or lesser than Americans. All men and women are created equal. However, governmental policy is a simple statement of jurisdiction. The Declaration of Independence states:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." - Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776.

deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. The American Government does not govern other nations. Therefore, the American government cannot have their consent. And therefore, the American government has no jurisdiction to make policy for, or over, any other nations. Thus, the American government has just power and consent to make policy for America Only. And if America Only, then America First. And we expect and challenge any foreign governments that claim to derive their just powers from the consent of their governed to do the same.

Party and website are both works in progress. Please stay tuned