Freedom And Liberty

Freedom and Liberty: What is its Value?

By Rick Kenai


In 1776, a group of men decided that freedom and liberty were so important that they would lay there life and honor on the line so their children and grandchildren could live in a land where they would make their own decisions, keep the money they labored long and hard to earn and raise their children by their own set of values.
They did not want to have some German-speaking psycho on another continent telling them what they could and could not do and then take more and more money from them.

So they got together and signed a document that said they believed freedom and liberty is something that is as much apart of us as say breathing. That freedom and liberty are not transferred or given to us since we are born with it. Like blue eyes. Or brown hair. It was just something that you had because you were human.
Here we are, more than two centuries later and it seems people have forgotten freedom comes at a price. And that price is high. Many have heard the quote “Freedom is purchased with the blood of patriots.” Yes, the “ultimate” price is required at times.

It seems over the last decade or two the majority of people have come to believe the government is responsible for our personal security as well as the security of the nation as a whole. It seems people are of the belief that if something bad happens in their life, the government is supposed to fix it. How many people do you know (over the age of say six months) that has never had something negative happen to them? A paycheck bounced, a friend unexpectedly (and sometimes violently) dies. Some psycho shoots up the school. Some other psycho’s fly planes into buildings.

Many people believe it is the governments job to come in and take care of them and kiss there boo- boos with a check. The government sends “grief counselors” into our schools. Washington sends out checks to terrorism survivors for no apparent reason. The government monitors our email, bank accounts, television, radio, etc. Why? Security. Or so they say.

There is a law on the books called the “Asset Forfeiture Law”. This law says a law enforcement agency can take your money, your house, and your car, and freeze your bank accounts if they only think you have anything to do with drugs. They don’t have to prove anything, or convict you of anything. They don’t even have to charge you with a crime. Pardon me, but I thought we had something called the 4th Amendment to prevent the government from unlawful search and seizure.

Then we have the Social Security Act. Here is a law that gives the government the power to forcibly take 15% of all your earnings for life and then give them back to you during your retirement years. Good idea? I may be wrong but I thought that it was my responsibility to provide for myself when I became too old to work. Why is the government involved in our personal finances? By the way, on this plan an individual gets back less than 1% return on their money. If an individual took that 15% (or 10% for that matter) and put it into a standard, interest bearing, money market account, that individual would get back more than six times what the government would give them.
What happened to freedom? Why are people allowing the government to get involved in all aspects of their lives? What happened to personal responsibility?

It is a common misconception the United States is a democracy. This is a fallacy. The mainstream media continuously references the U.S. as one, and most school children will tell you the same thing. But the truth is, the United States is a representative republic. We vote our leaders in and we can vote them out. We must hold our elected leaders to a standard. If they fall below that standard then get them the hell out of there.

How many of you would just say okay if you told your child, “Billy, I am giving you this money to do such and such.” Then your child comes back to you and says “Say Dad, I know you gave me this money to do such and such, but you know, J.R told me that he really needed to get this new bike so I gave the money to him.” I don’t know about you, but my boy would be punished. Are we going to hold our leaders to a lesser standard?

We use the nomenclature “public servants” to describe the people who work for government. But too many “public servants” think they are “public dictators.” This must stop. We must find and put into office men and women who are going to do what is best for the nation. Not what is best for their bank accounts or careers.

We still have more freedom than any other country on the planet. But how much longer are the people of this country going to allow the government to infringe on this freedom in the name of “security”. The world is not secure. Bad things are going to happen to all of us from time to time. Let’s get the government out of our personal lives and back to doing what they are supposed to be doing. Providing a land where we can be free.

Freedom is what made America prosperous from the beginning. Freedom is why our enemies in the Middle East hate us so much. Don’t let government infringe on our rights in the name of “security”.