When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for an oppressed people to cast off the yoke of a tyrannical government and to form a new government which seems to them more likely to provide the benefits which a just government should ensure to the governed, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to this course.

We hold the belief that the sole purpose of government is to defend the property, life and liberty of its citizens against all foes, domestic or foreign and that government has no role in regulating the affairs of men or the affairs of commerce except as these affect those fundamental purposes.

We believe that government should make no expenditures of the money or property of its citizens except in the direct furtherance of these threegoals and no others.

We further believe that government should take no more of the property of its citizens than is necessary to accomplish these purposes in the most frugal manner and that the government should not burden its citizens with debt in any form including contingent liabilities except in time of war or insurrection.

We believe that government should never enter into foreign alliance srequiring military action or expenditure of money or property, station military personnel on foreign soil , or provide money or property to foreign governments or to foreign commercial, religious or charitabl eenterprises except in time of war.

The grievances that we have with the present Federal Government and the Governments of the States and Localities are numerous and egregious, towit:

The taxes, in all forms, taken by Local, State and Federal Governments are excessive - amounting to one third to one half of the total income of the citizens and, in spite of this excessive taxation, these governments have burdened the citizens, without their consent, with additional debts and liabilities exceeding their ability to pay.

These governments have created a tax system so complex and multifaceted that few citizens can comprehend the rules or comply with all the provisions.

They assess fines against individuals for errors or omissions even if the government tax departments have given incorrect information to the citizen. This system compels citizens to bear witness against themselves and requires them, under threat of penalty, to prepay their taxes prior to the due date.

Governments have given money and property and tax exemptions to private and commercial enterprises, social and charitable organizations - both domestic and foreign - thus distorting free markets and dispersing the citizen's wealth without their consent.

These governments have expropriated the function of private charities an dcreated an inefficient costly, graft-ridden and ever expanding system which expends money to support large numbers of dependents and the bureaucrats who administer it.

The Federal government, sometimes with the assent of the courts, sometimes without judicial review, has distorted the plain meaning of the Constitution through tortured interpretation to obviate many of the restraints on government and the protections to the citizens contained in that document. Elected representatives, without review, have delegated to bureaucrat the right to issue, under force of law, thousands of rules to regulate every aspect of commerce and to hinder or forbid the use of private property in pursuit of legitimate ends.

The Federal government has created, without the assent of the citizens and in clear violation of the Constitution, a national police force which oppresses the citizens by warrantless arrests and searches, baseless seizures of property without compensation and murder without justification.

Governments have created a whole new body of law in the guise of protecting the health and morality of the citizens, which is not a legitimate function of government, and has used these new laws to classify a host of citizens as criminals who have done no harm to their fellow citizens or to the government, to sieze their property and to imprison them.

Governments have allowed election campaigns to become distorted by th eexpenditure of large sums of money contributed by special interests which creates the impression, if not the reality, that government is for sale to the highest bidder. Solicitation of campaign funds has become a major occupation of elected officials taking them away from their principal duty as representatives of the citizens.

Governments have failed in their primary duty of protecting their citizens from crime and fraud in commerce and in public and private places. They have allowed public places to become unsafe for citizens engaged in peaceful pursuits and schools to become dangerous for our children and their teachers. They have released unrehabilitated felons from imprisonment to prey again on society with no warning to the public or strict oversight over those so released.

Governments have taxed the citizens to provide public schools for the instruction of their children, so vital in a free nation, but have failed to educate the children adequately as demonstrated by the superior results obtained in non-governmental schools. They have failed to maintain the schools in good repair or to allow the citizens to use the tax monies taken for schools to seek alternate education for their children .

The Federal Government has granted access to thousands of paid lobbyists -including foreign lobbyists - into government offices of every kind and has, on occasion, even allowed these lobbyists to draft legislation.Elected and non-elected government employees accept gifts, travel and entertainment from these lobbyists as well as other subtler forms of influence such as employment as fellow lobbyists after their term in government service has ended.

For these and other reasons, we aver:

First - that the Federal Government has appropriated to itself powers not granted by the Constitution nor proper to a just and representative government.

It has become a tyranny curtailing the liberty of the people,seizing their property unjustly and subjecting them to imprisonment and death.

It has imposed unbearable taxes on the citizens to provide funds for foreign Governments and agencies, to give money to private enterprises- both domestic and foreign, to maintain our military forces on foreign soil and engage in military actions which have no relevance to the defense of our country, to support a huge welfare system and a 'war on drugs' which has resulted in the death and imprisonment of thousands to no effect.

It has burdened the citizens with a crushing National debt which can never be repaid.

Second - that the Governments of the States and Localities have exceeded their just powers by taxing the citizens, without their consent, to provide money for private enterprises and for projects of dubious merit.

They have restricted the liberty of the people through laws, regulations, ordinances and all manner of arbitrary rules affecting housing, commerce,licensing requirements and professional practice.

They have failed to protect, adequately, the lives and property of their citizens against crime and fraud.

Therefore, we hold that:

The citizens have the right and the duty to oppose these Governments in every way that shall seem to them legitimate: to refuse to obey unjust laws, to refuse to pay unjust taxes and assessments, to resist access to their property, to refuse to supply information concerning their financial, business, and personal matters, and to refuse to co-operate with these Governments or their Agents in any matter not properly a Governmental function.

[Arch Wakefield, SC Libertarian Party, 1997]

This flyer is for educational purposes only. Neither the writer or the person or organization distributing this flyer makes any representation as to the legality of any actions discussed therein, nor any suggestions that any individual undertake any action discussed therein.

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