Freedom Is A Natural State For Human Beings!

Yesterday, as I listened to the news, read articles in the paper and most especially heard a reading of the Declaration of Independence on NPR, I decided to download a copy of this most remarkable document and read it over myself. Now, I am not preaching nor am I asking you to agree or disagree with me. I’m only asking that you take the time today to either download a copy of the Declaration of Independence or find a copy of it and read it. Below you’ll find a copy of the first three paragraphs.

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.”

As I read it and read it again, a lot of things really stood out. I have made bold the words in those first three paragraphs that really smacked me in the face. In my opinion and only my opinion, I don’t see much difference from where our country is today and where it was when there was cause for Thomas Jefferson to pen these immortal words. Only few words need to be changed to update the ideas and principles described in the original document – you can change words like King of Great Britain to President of the United States. You can change, in several places, Government to Congress or Federal Government.

I was especially struck by the truths our forefathers held self-evident – that all men (and women) are created equal (regardless of nationality and ethnic origin, religious or not religious affiliation, age and other orientations). Equal doesn’t mean that everyone has the same strength, intellectual capability, special gifts or shares the same economic position, because those are covered in the next truth.

We, as humans have the Unalienable RIGHTS of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The right to life should basically go without saying anymore. The right to liberty is another question. Our freedoms, our liberties have been eroding for decades and decades. The more the government does, the more the people expect them to do, the more the people become dependent on the government, the more laws they must live under, the more laws the people must live under the less freedom and liberty we have individually and as a body of people. Freedom isn’t Free. It has been paid for by hundreds of thousand of lives of men and women, fathers and mothers, sisters and brother, sons and daughters.

Yet, we want, no . . . make that, we expect free this and free that - like Free Medical Care. There is NO FREE LUNCH! There is always a price for everything. Who will pay for the Free Medical Care? Obviously, the people who are the most successful and have toiled hard, built businesses, provided jobs and invested wisely. But, in order for everyone to have Free Medical Care, we must take or confiscate, under threat of extreme penalties including imprisonment money – we call these taxes – from those who have achieved and give their justly earned rewards freely to those who have not achieved. This is called redistribution of wealth. There is little incentive for anyone to become successful only to have his or her rewards taken from them and given to those who have not toiled as hard. Life is not fair. Freedom isn’t Free. I say again, THERE ARE NO FREE LUNCHES and Socialism DOES NOT WORK!

We all have the RIGHT to Pursue Happiness. However, there is a HUGE difference from the Pursuit of Happiness and Guaranteed Happiness. What we create is Mediocrity since we want everyone to have the same things. There are no guarantees in life other then death and taxes. There is nothing we can do about death, but people control taxes and we have allowed the people who represent us to get us into the deepest financial crisis since the “Great Depression.” There are those, who believe this could ultimately be worse. I’m not making that prediction, just making a statement of things I’ve read. Any country that allows scoundrels to fleece the public and then reward them with money from the treasury, money that is there for the operation of a body of elected representatives to fund and provide for the national defense and orderly conduct of day to day business and civil harmony (and I didn’t say regulation or laws) is out of control. The idea of governance is to assure basic civility, security and make sure that the society doesn’t fall into chaos. But, what will happen in places like California when state employees and/or retirees on the state retirement plan can’t be paid because there is no money. The people who produce the money, the people who work in productive jobs that generate the revenues are losing their jobs, thus, cutting their spending and the income tax revenue to the state. The unemployed are already suffering, what will happen if the state employees and retirees can’t receive their money because the people who produce it aren’t able to produce the products and services to generate the revenue. It’s a Catch 22. But, the potential for some ugliness is certainly there.

And that leads me to Governments (whether federal, state or local) deriving their “JUST” powers from the consent of the governed. Our representatives, those we elect to office have created a new form of aristocracy. They vote their own salaries. They select and instituted their own pensions that are greater then any average citizen, yet these representatives are public servants, in their positions at our pleasure and for our benefit to do our bidding, not live like the Lords of Fiefdoms. They travel at will anywhere, whenever they want. They have staffs of minions to do much of their work for them. And they spend much of their time raising money to get re-elected to their positions of power instead of getting the work at hand done. And the amount of time they actually spend working “at the office” for the amount of compensation (in many forms) they receive is certainly not that of the average constituent. And worse yet, most of them flaunt it in our faces. Why does the Speaker of the House need a bigger jet that costs the taxpayer millions of dollars a year to transport her coast to coast every week? Whey does she need a private jet at all? Why doesn’t she fly in a coach seat in a commercial airliner, book that seat out and take advantage of airfare sales, go through the indignities of the TSA and airport security like the rest of us mortals? Exactly what is it that makes the air she breathes so rarefied? The governed are now truly the governed. The government of the people, by the people and for the people has become the government of the government, by the government and for the government. As Sir Winston Churchill said, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

How long will it be, before we reestablish the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States as they were meant to be as established by the drafters of these remarkable documents and make this, once again, the land of the free, the home of the brave and the country where the government is of the people, by the people and for the people. Or, is it too late and this experiment in freedom and liberty is over, history.

I hope a few people read this and think about it as they enjoy their barbecued burgers and hot dogs and watch the fireworks (where they can still afford to pay for such displays). Just remember, hundreds of thousands of our finest men and women have given their lives so you can have your barbecue and fireworks – and we’re giving it all away wholesale. Does anyone have the guts to stand up to those who are taking our freedoms from us? I do, that’s why I’m writing my opinion and thoughts about it.

And I don’t care if you label yourself as a Democrat, Republican, Liberal or Conservative, if this offends you, TOUGH! I’m none of those labels – I’m an American first and foremost. I served this country for four nearly years during a period of war for (at that time) slave wages. I’ve provided jobs for at least a hundred people or more. It’s time to get rid of the old guard and put REAL Americans in place to represent us NOT POLITICAL PARTY PUPPETS!

You can’t Live and Work Free if you’re dependent on someone else, especially a government.

Happy 4th of July!

Patriotically,
Ed