August 23, 2012 Where were you in the primary election? I would like to share my understanding of liberty, justice, and good government with as many people as possible. As more attention is generally paid to political campaigns in the general election and with the recent proliferation of minor parties, I chose in April to bypass the primaries and took the necessary steps to make that possible. Our founding fathers warned of the dangers of partisanship, so while I work within the current framework, I will always place principles above party. August 22, 2012 Content from 2010: We live in a wonderful country. It is wonderful because of its natural resources, its geographical situation, and its heritage. But more than that, it is wonderful because of its people. We, the people of these United States, make this country great. This is what I believe. We, the people, work, play, study, plan, invent, collaborate, explore, share, and live. These are the things that keep us alive and happy and create flourishing communities. If we do not pursue these activities, not only do our lives become hollow shells of what they could be, but our very survival may be threatened. Usually when this happens we are quickly confronted with our own failure and can correct our course. In the same manner, a child grows to adulthood by learning that his actions and inactions have consequences. If a parent were to constantly shield the child from these consequences, the child would always remain a child, dependent on parental support. Unfortunately, a government can also become a perpetual parent. Individuals may come to believe that if the government doesn't provide for our education, ignorance will replace intelligence; if government doesn't enforce charity, no one will share with the needy; if government doesn't plan our retirement, we will not be prepared for old age; and the list goes on and on. We come to feel that government, like a loving parent, must license and validate our every move. However, we can think and plan and prepare at least as well as our peers in public service. Furthermore, when our lives are not limited by the ideas of those in government, the variety of our actions and the scope of our progress are limitless. The time is long overdue when we should remind the people in our government that they are people, just as we are, and that each of us has the power to think for ourselves. We do not need them to think for us and plan how we will associate with each other. Our government should focus on its function: to punish those who use force or fraud to control our lives, liberty, or property. If the government itself is the perpetrator of this crime it is a sad state of affairs. Government at all levels has planned and enforced the major concerns of our lives for so long that our free nature has been stifled. The encroachments into our lives over the past century cannot be reversed in a day without great chaos; therefore, a return to responsibility for our own lives must progress gradually, but let us start now. Remember, a government official should not be elected because of his great plans to satisfy your moral, social, and economic needs in his own way. He should be elected because he will help you retain your freedom to pursue these things according to your own conscience and intellect. My friends and equals, we, the people, have made this state and this nation great. We must find trustworthy servants and dismiss our bureaucratic overseers so that we may take back the power to remain great and flourish once again. A legislator must have a solid foundation of true principles to guide him in the exercise of the responsibilities delegated to him. Otherwise, he is forever subject to whim and political pressure. Every issue will become a point of contention with no clear resolution. Government will fuel perpetual chaos. Ryan Jones seeks to apply true principles to every question. He firmly believes that the liberty of each individual is of paramount importance and that government has been created specifically to defend that liberty from violations by others. When a government begins to encroach on the liberty of people who have used no force or fraud against their peers, that government must be restrained and amended. That is the primary task before us. As the Declaration of Independence states, we have “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted… That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it”. Our governments have overstepped their bounds and deprived us of the liberty we as a society need to mature and flourish. Ryan is committed to serving his community, state, and nation in reclaiming “liberty and justice for all.”

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