Florida Senate - 2020 (NP) SR 1804 By Senator Diaz 36-01872-20 20201804__ 1 Senate Resolution 2 A resolution renouncing democratic socialism in favor 3 of the true American values of individual liberty and 4 democracy. 5 6 WHEREAS, since its inception, the United States has 7 encouraged the rule of law, constitutional democracy, and 8 individual liberty, and 9 WHEREAS, the rule of law ensures that citizens can 10 participate in regulation through the election of their 11 representatives, thereby protecting their real and personal 12 property against unreasonable taxation, and 13 WHEREAS, individual liberty includes the freedom of a 14 citizen to engage in, and benefit from, the labor of his or her 15 own hands, and 16 WHEREAS, in the words of statesman, lawyer, diplomat, 17 philosopher, and Founding Father James Madison, who served as 18 our nation’s fourth president, “As a man is said to have a right 19 to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in 20 his rights,” and 21 WHEREAS, all of the citizens of this great nation benefit 22 from limiting the imposition of regulation on industry and 23 supporting capitalism as a means of increasing the strength of 24 our economy, and 25 WHEREAS, in 2018, the economy of the United States was the 26 largest in the world at $20.49 trillion, with its closest 27 competitors far behind, with China at $13.41 trillion; Japan at 28 $4.97 trillion; and Germany at $4 trillion, and 29 WHEREAS, in contrast to the true American values of 30 individual liberty and democracy, democratic socialism is a 31 political and economic theory of social organization which 32 advocates for the ownership or regulation of production, 33 distribution, and exchange by the community, as a whole, and 34 WHEREAS, in many nations that have looked to socialism to 35 improve the lives of their citizens, the result has been 36 economic and social chaos, resulting in an extraordinarily low 37 standard of living for the vast majority and the lack of 38 individual freedoms for all, NOW, THEREFORE, 39 40 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: 41 42 That democratic socialism is renounced in favor of the true 43 American values of individual liberty and democracy.