Sailing in Carolina in the summer: nothing like it in the world. But I’m not talking about a sense of freedom one enjoys in the salty sea air. I’m talking about liberty, which one is endowed with by Almighty God. There is a strong current of freedom moving through the Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal plains of North Carolina.  

The North Carolina Republican-led legislature is racking up some remarkable wins for citizens of the Old North State. Our people are blessed to live in one of the most beautiful and bountiful states in the union. To couple our God-given land with God-given liberties is to move ever closer to that glorious model of human happiness and liberty that our founding families and immigrants sought and which our Constitution provides.

North Carolinians are thankful to our elected representatives for the courageous, strategic, and wise legislative work on protecting the lives of the unborn, placing the choice of education back in the hands of parents, curbing executive powers in state government, strengthening higher education with civic leadership initiatives, and lowering income taxes on North Carolinians. All of this good work expresses the vision of that kind of government secured by our Founding Fathers and expressed by one of the leading lights of liberty: 

“Though the earth, and all inferior creatures, be common to all men, yet every man has a property in his own person: this no body has any right to but himself. The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his.” (John Locke 1632-1704, in The Second Treatise of Civil Government, Chapter V, Section 27, “Of Property, 1689”) 

Private property — that most fundamental, and inalienable right that flows from the unchecked conscience of the creature before the Creator, in concert with the free exercise of rights by his neighbor — is not only to be guarded by a good government, but sought in even greater degrees. Thus, for human flourishing in this God-blessed state, and to welcome businesses, cultivate opportunities for entrepreneurs, encourage new residents with needed gifts and graces, and help relieve our people of the excessive weight of wanton spending, stifling regulations, and wayward social engineering, we urge our lawmakers to not only stand firm, but to move forward. When freedom enjoys a fresh wind in her sails, accept the leeward gift, slacken the ropes, and let her run!  

Why not steer towards an even freer Carolina? 

  • Make North Carolina a no-income tax state (and join our neighbors in Tennessee).
  • Bring the new Civil Leadership Curriculum (in Chapel Hill) to every campus in the UNC system.
  • Appoint a commission to examine and recommend the elimination of regulations and fees that hinder or halt business-start-ups and expansion. 
  • Seek the greater welfare of all Tar Heels by raising standards and expanding educational opportunities — and raising wages — of all law enforcement officers.

The result will be a state that is peerless in location, natural beauty, human capacity, education, and safety. Or, to summarize it all in one word — that cherished treasure from on high: freedom. Let out the sails, say a prayer, give thanks, and let her run.