Rights of the Individual

"Republicans don't know how to defend morally an individual's right to achieve wealth and to keep it, and that is why they fail. ... It's part and parcel with their ambivalence over the individualist heritage of the nation. ... One of the things that people have to understand is that the American Revolution was truly an epic revolution in the way individuals were perceived in relation to the rest of the society. Throughout history individuals had always been cogs in some machine; they'd always been something to be sacrificed for the king, the tribe, the gang, the chieftain, the society around them, the race, whatever, and the real revolution, in America especially, was a moral revolution. It was a moral revolution in that ... suddenly, with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the individual, his life, his well-being, his property, his happiness became central to our values, and that is what really made America unique. People came here from all over the world to try to escape the kind of oppression they had and experienced in the past. They came here for freedom; they came here for self-expression and self-realization, and America offered them that kind of a place."

-- Robert Bidinotto

http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Robert.Bidinotto.Quote.F7DB


Background from Wikipedia (accessed 12 November 2012):

Robert James Bidinotto (1949- ) is a contemporary novelist, journalist, editor, and lecturer. His 2011 vigilante novel, HUNTER: A Thriller, is the first in a series. He is perhaps best known for his critiques of the criminal justice system, and of the environmentalist movement and philosophy. Bidinotto advocates the philosophy and writings of Ayn Rand, and from July 2005 until October 2008, he was editor-in-chief of The New Individualist, the monthly magazine published by The Atlas Society. Bidinotto has written for many different publications. He also hosts his own website dedicated to criticism of the environmental movement, publishes a blog, and lectures at colleges and universities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bidinotto