THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 95, April 26, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
AGENDA 21 OR FREEDOM 21: MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE
By Tom DeWeese
FREEDOM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM: FREEDOM 21 VERSUS AGENDA 21 -- FREEDOM 21 AS A MECHANISM FOR UNITING
PRO-FREEDOM GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS & ACTIVISTS IN WAGING THE FIGHT IN DEFENSE OF THE FREE SOCIETY & IN
OPPOSITION TO THE CONTROLLED SOCIETY ADVOCATED BY AGENDA 21
FULL STORY:
Which do you choose? A way of life in which you are the master of your destiny, or one in which virtually all decisions are made for
you by one ruling body or another? It’s the classic struggle facing every human on earth. Freedom or control.
Truth be known, there are many who actually choose control. It makes for a well-ordered society, with few surprises. In a controlled
society, one doesn’t have to make complicated career choices, since such choices are made for the individual by an agency of the
government. Health care is provided by statist or collectivist programs, i.e., provided by programs funded by government and
operating under strict government control and direction. Community planners decide where housing will be placed. Public agencies
decide what industries are to be allowed and how they will operate.
Watchdogs decide the foods that shall be permitted to eat, to protect our health, of course. Family planners decide the number of
children allowed. Those children will be well taken care of every day in public education centers that, not only provide a centrally
planned curriculum, but also provide for all physical and mental health needs, including treatment involving use of mind-altering
drugs.
In a controlled society there is no reason for crime because there are no real possessions to steal and no personally owned weapons
to threaten bodily harm. The aged have no fears for the future, as they are herded into and taken care of by government funded,
controlled, and directed statist or collectivist programs. Economic security is promised in a better world, where everyone equally
sacrifices to help their fellow man. Everything is well organized, peaceful, and controlled. Everyone is secure in the knowledge that
tomorrow will be just like today.
On the other hand, there is the chaos of what some foolishly call freedom. In such a society, people are fully responsible for their
own actions.
Untethered individuals throw a monkey wrench into a well-ordered society by inventing new gadgets that make life easier and more
productive, but threaten old ways. Selfish people pursue their own dreams and ideals without ever worrying about how they fit into
the order of society. They want to benefit from the fruits of their labor, own property, and raise families without controls established
from the wisdom of the community.
Imagine such a society in which parents get to decide how best to educate their children. And think of the irresponsibility of
individuals actually being able to choose if and how they want to invest their money to prepare for retirement. In the socalled free
society, people eat what they want without benefit of government approval. Children are part of the family that bore them, not
overseen by the state. People start enterprises without asking permission. Nothing stays the same, except that individuals are secure
in their homes and have the ability to live their lives as they choose.
Control today has a name. Agenda 21. This is the name of a treaty that was first unveiled at the United Nations’ Earth Summit in 1992.
Implementation of the treaty is through a policy called Sustainable Development. This program is now the official policy of the United
States government and is being systematically imposed in every single state of the Union and in every city and town. There are very
few exceptions.
Sustainable Development is no less than a ruling principle by which decisions for all aspects of our lives are determined through
public/private partnerships between government (at all levels) and private institutions in our communities. They provide guidelines to
determine business decisions; property use; medical care; educational curriculum; foreign policy; economics; taxes; labor policy;
career decisions; housing; building material; farming policy; and much more. Agenda 21 is based on the principle that government
grants our rights.
If you choose freedom, then there is a counter to Agenda 21 and its Sustainable Development program. It’s called Freedom 21, and it’s
quickly growing into a “freedom movement.”
Freedom 21 is not an organization. It is a loose coalition of groups and individuals who believe that our nation’s Founding Fathers had
it right when they established this nation as one with tightly controlled reins on government. The Founding Fathers believed that all
individuals were born with their rights of individual liberty and that government’s job is to protect those rights as individuals pursue
their own dreams and goals. That’s the basis for the Freedom 21 agenda.
Freedom 21 was organized six years ago by Henry Lamb (Environmental Conservation Organization), Tom DeWeese (American Policy
Center), Craig Rucker and David Rothbard (Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow), and representatives of the Eagle Forum. Today,
Freedom 21 is joined by the Chicago-based Heartland Institute and Chuck Cushman’s American Land Rights Association.
The unique fact about Freedom 21 is that it is truly a grassroots coalition. It has no central infrastructure; no official leader; no budget;
no overhead, and no bureaucracy. The co-sponsors are independent organizations which do not give up their individual identity or
autonomy to participate in Freedom 21 activities. It succeeds precisely because members are open to the activities of others and are
happy to lend their support. The coalition operates under a set of principles of freedom first adopted by activists in a conference held
in July of 2000.
In its six years, Freedom 21 has served as a mechanism for reaching out to the freedom movement to share ideas and unite grassroots
activists. Through Freedom 21 projects and conferences, the movement has been able to introduce leaders in other movements to the
principles of freedom. Even more, one-issue activists are beginning to learn that they share common goals and adversaries with other
grassroots movements.
Freedom 21 has been instrumental in uniting Second Amendment defenders; property rights activists; free market advocates; tax
opponents; personal privacy protectors; family autonomy champions; back-to-basics education activists, and many more. These
single-issue activists have come to understand that they all share a common foe in Sustainable Development.
Today, Freedom 21 is providing invaluable tools to help fight back against the threat of the UN’s Agenda 21 and Sustainable
Development. In the past year, Freedom 21 leaders have developed a six-hour DVD presentation entitled, Americas’ Choice:
Liberty or Sustainable Development, designed to help educate activists and elected officials. Also produced is a booklet for
elected officials entitled, Understanding Sustainable Development: A Guide for Public Officials.
In 2005, Freedom 21 has turned its efforts toward creating new sources of funding for a cash-starved freedom movement. Just
announced was Freedom 21.Com, a unique Internet service provider that gives $2 of every member’s monthly subscription fee
to the freedom organization of the member’s choice. Soon two more unique funding sources will be announced under the Freedom 21
banner.
The most important project each year is the Freedom 21 national conference; this year scheduled for July 14 to July 16 in Reno,
Nevada. This year’s conference is designed like building blocks to show how Sustainable Development policies erode the principles
of freedom in every area of life. Participants will learn about sustainable polices on water, medicine and education. They will learn how
to use alternative media, like the Internet and television, to help fight for the principles of liberty. Participants will hear from local
activists about how to fight on the home front, and they will learn of the ravages of Sustainable Development on the international
front. The conference educates, unites, inspires, and renews the spirit. Go to www.freedom21.org for all the details. Freedom 21
is the gathering place for the freedom movement.
Collectivism, and its false promise of security, may be the accepted policy of the day, but the freedom movement is learning how to
fight back.
Conservative Political & Cultural Organizations
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
Tom DeWeese is the Publisher and Editor of The DeWeese
Report and President of the American Policy Center, a grassroots activist think tank. Headquartered in Warrenton, Virginia.
The Center maintains an Internet site at www.americanpolicy.org. Mailing Address:
American Policy Center, 50-A South Third St. (#1), Warrenton, VA 20186. Telephone: (540) 341-8911.
Copyright 2005 Tom DeWeese
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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