Tenth Amendment Center

Despite writing on the Constitution for decades - few people today seem to even know the name Lysander Spooner. And most who do, rarely know more than one quote. Time to turn that around. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: September 15, 2023

All the founders agreed that standing armies were a great threat to liberty. The only debate was really the best way to prevent those dangers. But they didn’t come up with this view on their own - it was part of a very long tradition that was opposed to large, permanent military establishments. Path to Liberty: September 13, 2023

Forgotten long ago: Essential principles underlying the Constitution and liberty - right from the Founders. It’s time to turn that around. Path to Liberty: September 11, 2023

Despite the fact that it proved to be mostly a false alarm, the “Powder Alarm” of 1774 showed the colonists that the British were serious - and willing to use gun control efforts to keep them in their place. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: September 1, 2023

Many people hold the false and dangerous view that the federal court system is not only the final say on the meaning of the Constitution - but taking it even further - the courts represent the “last bulwark against tyranny.” Path to Liberty: August 30, 2023

Ignorance of liberty, of the constitution, of the powers delegated to the government - and so much more - are just what tyrants absolutely love. And we’re literally surrounded by people who are willfully ignorant of it all. Path to Liberty: August 28, 2023

To many people today, liberty is little more than choosing new people to rule over them every few years. And even in the founding generation, there was a wide range of viewpoints on just what constitutes a state of liberty. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: August 25, 2023

A culture of obedience and compliance guarantees that government will never stop growing - and defiance and nullification represent the “rightful remedy” to usurpations of power. But today, many people live in fear - and never take the steps needed to help advance liberty. Path to Liberty: August 23, 2023

Even when states end civil asset forfeiture, a federal program called “equitable sharing” encourages them to participate in a federal version anyway. But the states can opt-out and nullify the federal program into oblivion, where it belongs. Path to Liberty: August 21, 2023

The founders warned us - over and over and over again - about the dangers to liberty from war. As James Madison put it, war gives us armies, which lead to debts and taxes. This trifecta makes up the “known instruments for putting the many under the domination of the few.” Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: August 18, 2023

Applying Thomas Jefferson’s strategy for advancing liberty to the massive and ever-growing surveillance state we live under today. One state is following it well, and all other states should copy their strategy as much as possible. Path to Liberty: August 16, 2023

In his series of 18 letters, Federal Farmer repeatedly warned about the dangers of centralized power, predicting that the proposed government would end in “the destruction of freedom.” Path to Liberty: August 14, 2023

In his last major speech during the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Patrick Henry warned against the potential for “ten thousand implied powers,” and called for a number of amendments prior to ratification. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: August 11, 2023

Everywhere you turn, it seems like people are at each other’s throats. Everything has gotten political - and it’s only going to keep getting worse. Unless, of course, the people see the source of the problem - consolidation and factions and factions and consolidation - and take action to reject it. Path to Liberty: August 9, 2023

If you want to understand the Constitution - its original, legal meaning - don’t rely exclusively, or even primarily on the Federalist Papers. You’ll want to read other federalists like James Wilson, Tench Coxe and John Dickinson, plus the leading Anti-federalists as well. Path to Liberty: August 7, 2023

To support the constitution and liberty, these four big federal monstrosities absolutely need to go. But that doesn’t mean we should ever expect the people with power to voluntarily give up that power. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: August 4, 2023

Most efforts to stop federal programs miss the mark in a big way. Instead of striking the root, they hack at branches, often setting the stage for more of the same in the future. Path to Liberty: August 2, 2023

If we truly want to build a real “land of the free,” it’s essential to understand the source of our problems. Using the wisdom and warnings of leading founders and old revolutionaries - we can point to consolidation, or centralization of power. Path to Liberty: July 31, 2023

In a series of speeches during the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Patrick Henry warned against a combination of the treaty, the judicial power and - the supremacy clause - would lead to government violating individual liberty with impunity. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: July 28, 2023

In his series of essays, Brutus repeatedly warned about the dangers of centralized power, predicting that the proposed government would end up exercising “infinite” and “incomprehensible” power. Path to Liberty: July 26, 2023

An important lesson on power and human nature. Trust no one with power to endanger liberty. That includes - don’t trust the people who tell you to not trust people with power. Path to Liberty: July 24, 2023

The number of automated license plate readers has exploded to mind-boggling levels in recent years. Databases now contain billions of scans and they’re growing fast. This empowers local, state and federal governments to not just track you and build profiles on where you go, but also to use AI as a dystopian pre-crime tool to target people based on their driving patterns. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: July 21, 2023

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root" Path to Liberty: July 19, 2023

His name forever associated with partisan political trickery, unfortunately few people know much else about Elbridge Gerry. He was a leading revolutionary, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a highly influential figure at the Philadelphia convention, one of only 3 who didn't sign the Constitution, and the 5th Vice-President, serving under James Madison. Path to Liberty: July 17, 2023

Government is waging a war on your liberty. And it’s not just happening when the team you don’t like is in power. This is how things have always been. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: July 14, 2023