Against ‘soft tyranny’
To the editor:
I recently had the privilege of attending a town meeting in which state Rep. Doug Wardlow, R-Eagan, spoke with great passion in defense of our Constitution.
He truly understands how the Constitution protects and guarantees our individual liberties.
He also realizes how quickly this guarantee deteriorates in the form of a soft tyranny, as Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his 19th century treatise “Democracy in America” and of which Wardlow spoke so eloquently.
This soft tyranny, in the form of regulations, rules, and taxes, eventually governs our every decision and act, stifles the human spirit, destroys free will, and robs us of our moral being.
How can we so easily ignore the safeguards of our liberty, tediously designed by our founders, to restrict the powers of centralized governments? Have we also forgotten that during the 20th century more citizens were killed by their own governments than by any other source?
Of course, those who believe that giant inefficient bureaucracies will accommodate the needs of each family may want to move to countries that exercise even more power so that they may be enslaved like all but the top 1 percent.
Meanwhile, those who believe in personal freedom would be prudent to support my state Rep. Wardlow, U.S. Rep. John Kline and Sen. Ted Daley.
RICHARD IFFERT
Eagan
