“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”

–Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was a huge libertarian. As one of the most important Founding Fathers, he just might be history’s most important libertarian – except for the fact that a lot of the other Founding Fathers might have been about as libertarian as him.

The American government is set up for a system of checks and balances, most people know that. But how many people know the purpose of that system? It’s so government checks itself out from getting too powerful.

I think if Thomas Jefferson saw this, he’d have a massive coronary and his eyes would pop out of his skull.

“The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.”

–Thomas Jefferson

The Founding Fathers were progressive and revolutionary, but in my opinion, they weren’t really Liberal. Observe (hat tip here):

A number of global texts written during the highly charged Enlightenment years of the 17th and 18th centuries included similar ideals about liberty and the right to self-determination, and Americans throughout the colonies were already promoting the progressive worldview in newspapers and schoolbooks.

The trend that America – and Jefferson helped – started was to reject a king in favor of getting the government out of your face. Of making each citizen the king of their own life. It was about “self-determination.”

“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.”

–Thomas Jefferson

So there you have it. Thomas Jefferson, genius political mind, was a libertarian. The America we have today would startle him.

Disagree? Prove me wrong.

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