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Freedom-Learning Curves

We need people to keep learning about freedom until they produce major gains, through constitutionalist appropriation, party rules, house rules, repeals, and ending of Progressive debt and entitlements.

James Anthony
June 15, 2025

People raise their living standards more quickly when people make themselves freer from governments.

The more freedom, the faster the increase in GDP per capita generally

Figure. The more freedom, the faster the increase in GDP per capita generally, for Singapore (84.4), United States (72.1), Argentina (60.6), and Vietnam (50.1) [1] (parentheses give Index of Economic Freedom scores for 2022 [2]). With the vertical scale logarithmic, exponential growth produces a straight line, with the slope steeper when the exponential growth is faster.

Learning to be freer from governments can be thought of as moving up a freedom-learning curve [3].

The figure shows the result of increasing freedom. Each move up in freedom makes the GDP per capita increase along a steeper straight line.

Learning Freedom

Each person makes his way up his own freedom-learning curve.

Donald Trump has now chosen a number of appointees [4] who could significantly limit the national government [5], including Elon Musk [6], Russ Vought [7], Robert Kennedy [8], Jay Bhattacharya [9], Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and Chris Wright.

Trump quickly signed a large number of executive orders, many of which could significantly limit the national government by protecting the Constitution more faithfully, in administration, foreign policy, immigration, health, energy and the environment, policing and criminal justice, education, and technology [10].

Elon Musk, Nicole Shanahan, Ron DeSantis, and state freedom caucuses are each poised to back primary challengers. Musk [6] and Shanahan [11] each could fund considerable challenges. DeSantis has a proven PAC and platform [12]. State freedom caucuses [13] generate high-quality information by forcing recorded votes during legislative sessions, and then inform voters during primaries [14] and elections.

Politician activists, like Ron Paul earlier and Thomas Massie [15], Andy Biggs [16], and Rand Paul now, mostly lead by helping inform people. Grassroots voter activists typically have focused on a single issue like life, health freedom, arms, gold money, or homeschooling [17]. Media activists like Daniel Horowitz of Blaze Media [18], Lew Rockwell [19], Mises Institute [20], and Free the People [21] provide forward-looking information, background, theory, and ideas.

On all these fronts, people are starting to get government people to limit governments by using their powers well against others in governments—especially, even against others from their own party.

Even so, people fall into numerous traps; for example, using the so-called power of the purse [22], using the filibuster [23], reviewing regulations [24], raising tariffs [25] [26], eliminating income taxes [27], eliminating taxes on tips [28], adding term limits [29], and having state legislators select senators [30].

People need to learn what major changes will work the best.

Locking-In Major Gains

Appropriation

Legislators must pass a single total appropriation that limits the overall takings from the people. Executives must then allocate this appropriation to enforce the whole body of law.

Currently, legislatively passing line-item appropriations empowers legislators to become logrolling tyrants. This shouldn’t be. Line-item appropriations are unconstitutional grabs of a crucial executive power. Executive power includes planning budget line-item allocations, optimally adjusting for contingencies as they arise, and being fully accountable for all associated actions. Executive powers must be kept separate from legislative powers so that offsetting powers can be used to limit one another [22].

Party Rules

We need to have at least one good major party that exists solely to help voters select good people. It needs a party name that’s specific and meaningful, a party declaration that’s modeled on the Declaration of Independence, a party constitution that’s modeled on the Constitution, and party laws that reverse the Progressive parties’ candidate-selection processes [31].

Parties are the tail that wags the dog. Our last small-government major party, the initial Democrats, broke bad in 1894 [32].

House Rules

Like good party rules, good legislative-house rules need to be modeled on the Constitution. The role of states needs to be played by working groups, each limited to only addressing one of the Constitution’s clauses, and in some cases only part of one clause [33].

House rules must explicitly require legislators to ensure that each new bill and each existing statute constitutionally passes six simple pass/fail tests: (1) No misleading parts. (2) Only uses powers enumerated for the national government. (3) No delegation of legislative power. (4) No grabs of executive power. (5) No grabs of judicial power. (6) Not noncritical, complex, or long, and not helping make the total corpus of law incomprehensibly complex or long [34].

Repeals

Executives need to uphold their oath by not enforcing any regulations [35], and legislators need to uphold their oath by formally repealing all the underlying statutes [36]. Regulations are produced under unconstitutional statutes, which fail at least one of the six simple pass/fail tests above.

Debt, Income, Healthcare

Apart from providing USA retirees with constitutionally-required just compensation for past takings, from which retirees otherwise could not recover, essentially all of the remaining national debt must be repudiated. A full 99.8% of it was incurred by Progressives to support their open rebellion against the we the people and our Constitution (Progressives refuse to use the Constitution’s sanctions against people in governments to limit them, which systematically deprives the Constitution’s rules of any force). The 14th Amendment requires that “all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void” [37].  

Current statutes requiring taxpayers to pay in now in exchange for future income and healthcare should be repealed. Current statutes should be amended to promise taxpayers the lifetime benefits that correspond to the lifetime payments they’ve made up the amendment date. A new statute should help fulfill these promises by formally authorizing the sale of government assets and providing model terms of sale [38].

Reinforcing the Constitution

We add more value to satisfy our needs and wants when we produce and shop freely [39]. To make us freer from governments and cronies, the Constitution provides separated powers that limit each other [40].

This process is bypassed by legislative line-item appropriation logrolling, intraparty collusion, power-concentrating house rules, no repeals of past defiance, and debt and entitlement schemes.

Demolishing each of these bypassing processes is essential, and will be our next major step up in freedom.

References

  1. “GDP per Capita, 1650 to 2022.” Our World in Data, ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-maddison-project-database?tab=line&yScale=log&time=1601..2022&country=SGP~ARG~VNM~USA. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  2. “Index of Economic Freedom: All Country Scores.” Heritage, www.heritage.org/index/pages/all-country-scores. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  3. Lundberg, Robert H. “Learning Curve Theory as Applied to Production Costs.” SAE Transactions, vol. 64, 1956, pp. 775–81.
  4. Merrill, Curt, et al. “Tracking Trump’s Picks for His Cabinet and Administration.” CNN, 8 May 2025, www.cnn.com/politics/trump-cabinet-pks-administration-dg/index.html. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  5. Anthony, James. “Trump’s Nominees Would Support the Constitution More than Senators Have.” Free the People, 12 Jan. 2025, freethepeople.org/trumps-nominees-would-support-the-constitution-more-than-senators-have/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  6. Anthony, James. “New Rules for Republican Progressives.” Lew Rockwell, 30 Dec. 2024, www.lewrockwell.com/2024/12/james-anthony/new-rules-for-republican-progressives/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  7. “Impoundment.” Center for Renewing America, americarenewing.com/?s=impoundment. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  8. Anthony, James. “Life, Liberty, and Property Actions: The Candidates’ Records.” rConstitution.us, 3 Nov. 2024, rconstitution.us/life-liberty-and-property-actions-the-candidates-records/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  9. Bhattacharya, Jay. Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson, 18 May 2023, www.hoover.org/research/man-who-talked-back-jay-bhattacharya-fight-against-covid-lockdowns. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  10. “Donald Trump’s Executive Orders and Actions, 2025.” Ballotpedia, ballotpedia.org/Donald_Trump%27s_executive_orders_and_actions,_2025. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  11. Timotija, Filip. “Former RFK Jr. Running Mate Threatens to Primary Senators Who Vote against Nomination.” The Hill, 29 Jan. 2025, thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5112635-nicole-shanahan-robert-f-kennedy-jr-hhs-nomination/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  12. @RonDeSantis. “The FL Freedom Fund was instrumental in raising huge sums of $ to defeat Amendments 3 and 4 in 2024. For the 2026 cycle, the FFF will raise even more resources (1) to ensure support for a strong conservative gubernatorial candidate and (2) to support strong conservative candidates in legislative primaries. We need to elect strong leaders who will build off FL’s success and who will deliver on the promises made to voters.” X, 30 Jan. 2025, 8:47 a.m., x.com/RonDeSantis/status/1884976751136166293.
  13. Anthony, James. “Freedom Caucus Path to Constitutionally-Limited Governments.” Free the People, 2 Aug. 2024, freethepeople.org/freedom-caucus-path-to-constitutionally-limited-governments/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  14. Horowitz, Daniel. “State Freedom Caucuses Defy GOP Power Players and Win Big.” Blaze Media, 17 Sep. 2024, www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/state-freedom-caucuses-defy-gop-power-players-and-win-big. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  15. Anthony, James. “Trump, DeSantis, or Massie?” rConstitution.us, 7 Jan. 2022, rconstitution.us/trump-desantis-or-massie/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  16. Anthony, James. “Trump, Kennedy, Even DeSantis Would Be Second Best.” rConstitution.us, 18 Aug. 2023, rconstitution.us/trump-kennedy-even-desantis-would-be-second-best/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  17. Anthony, James. “The Right Needs a More Confrontational Politics.” American Greatness, 6 Aug. 2021, amgreatness.com/2021/08/06/the-right-needs-a-more-confrontational-politics/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  18. “Daniel Horowitz.” Blaze Media, www.theblaze.com/u/danielhorowitz. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  19. Lew Rockwell, 1999, www.lewrockwell.com. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  20. Mises Institute, 1995, mises.org. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  21. Free the People, 2016, freethepeople.org. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  22. Anthony, James. “The Duty to Limit the Take.” Lincoln Memorial University Law Review, vol. 12, no. 3, 2025 (forthcoming).
  23. Anthony, James. “Who Will Benefit Long-Term from Ending the Filibuster?” American Greatness, 26 June 2021, amgreatness.com/2021/06/26/who-will-benefit-long-term-from-ending-the-filibuster/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  24. @jamesanthony_us. X, 30 Jan. 2025, 8:47 a.m., “The REINS Act would be an administrative override of the current Constitution. Laws would be written by unelected bureaucrats and rubber-stamped by politicians. You all need to implement clear standards of constitutionality. And you need to repeal the administrative state. https://freethepeople.org/separate-powers-automatically-using-simple-rules/.” x.com/jamesanthony_us/status/1872871503881998580.
  25. Anthony, James. “Tariffs: Meet Halfway to Freedom?” Lew Rockwell, 3 Apr. 2025, www.lewrockwell.com/2025/04/james-anthony/tariffs-meet-halfway-to-freedom/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  26. Anthony, James. “Republicans’ Tariffs Take Away Individuals’ Freedom.” Lew Rockwell, 8 Apr. 2025, www.lewrockwell.com/2025/04/james-anthony/republicans-tariffs-take-away-individuals-freedom/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  27. Anthony, James. “The True Tax.” rConstitution.us, 27 Oct. 2021, rconstitution.us/the-true-tax/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  28. Muresianu, Alex. “How ‘No Tax on Tips’ Could Backfire.” City Journal, 30 Jan. 2025, www.city-journal.org/article/no-tax-on-tips-trump-republicans-budget. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  29. Anthony, James. “Term Limits Won’t Fix the Problem in Washington, but These Solutions Might.” American Thinker, 14 Feb. 2023, www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/02/term_limits_wont_fix_the_problem_in_washington_but_these_solutions_might.html. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  30. “Study of 150,000 Lawmaker Votes Exposes Republicans as Less Committed to Conservative Policy than Democrats Are to Liberal Policy.” CPAC, 7 Sep. 2023, www.cpac.org/us/statements/09-07-2023/study-of-150000-lawmaker-votes-exposes-republicans-as-less-committed-to-conservative-policy-than-democrats-are-to-liberal-policy. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  31. Anthony, James. The Constitution Needs a Good Party: Good Government Comes from Good Boundaries. Neuwoehner Press, 2018.
  32. Rothbard, Murray N. The Progressive Era. Edited by Patrick Newman, Mises Institute, 2017, pp. 163–97.
  33. Anthony, James. “Repeal! Ratify Legislative-House Constitutions. Pass Limited Bills.” Unpublished manuscript, 28 May 2025.
  34. Anthony, James. “Separate Powers Automatically Using Simple Rules.” Free the People, 10 June 2023, freethepeople.org/separate-powers-automatically-using-simple-rules/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  35. Anthony, James. “Action Items to Faithfully Execute the Constitution.” Lew Rockwell, 3 Dec. 2024, www.lewrockwell.com/2024/12/james-anthony/action-items-to-faithfully-execute-the-constitution/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  36. Anthony, James. “Repeal Government Regulators. Improve Safety and Quality, End Inflation.” Lew Rockwell, 10 Oct. 2024, www.lewrockwell.com/2024/10/james-anthony/repeal-government-regulators-improve-safety-and-quality-end-inflation/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  37. Anthony, James. “Progressives’ Rebellion Should Be Repudiated, Starting in States or County Regions.” Free the People, 14 Mar. 2025, freethepeople.org/progressives-rebellion-should-be-repudiated-starting-in-states-or-county-regions/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  38. Anthony, James. “Outgrow Entitlements: Stop Losses, Cover Debts, and Help More.” Mises Institute Power & Market, 22 Apr. 2022, mises.org/power-market/outgrow-entitlements-stop-losses-cover-debts-and-help-more. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  39. Anthony, James. “Socialism Kills Freedom.” rConstitution.us, 26 Mar. 2021, rconstitution.us/socialism-kills-freedom/. Accessed 14 June 2025.
  40. Anthony, James. “Offsetting Powers.” us, rconstitution.us/boundaries/#off-bound. Accessed 14 June 2025.

James Anthony is an experienced chemical engineer who applies process design, dynamics, and control to government processes. He is the author of The Constitution Needs a Good Party and rConstitution Papers, the publisher of rConstitution.us, and an author in The Hill, Blaze Media, Western Journal, Daily Caller, The Federalist, American Thinker, Lew Rockwell, American Greatness, Mises Institute, Foundation for Economic Education, and Free the People. For more information, see his media and about pages, overview, and fresh takes on the Constitution.

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