What Happened to our Liberty and Freedom?

Maybe I stood in front of the Stars and Stripes on time too many as a kid, but I can’t help wondering if our nation is still “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Sadly, I don’t think we are one nation, indivisible. I think too many not only have no faith but do not adhere to Christian/Judeo values. And I sure don’t see much liberty or justice. In fact, I’d say our justice system, from the Justice Department and its many alphabet agencies to the prosecuting attorneys at the city level, are failing to uphold the law and are often abusing their power to persecute political enemies.

It’s not just the Pledge of Allegiance that we have strayed from. We no longer adhere to the Constitution.

This also starts at the top. The Constitution gives the president the role of Commander-in-Chief, allows him to make treaties, grant pardons, appoint ambassadors and judges, and requires him to update the Congress “from time to time” on the state of the union.

There is no mention of executive orders, the power to prohibit gas vehicles or promote the use of green energy. In the Constitution, the Executive Branch has little power, yet today the Executive Branch and their entrenched bureaucrats are the biggest threats to our liberty and freedom.

Give me Liberty

I think I am like most Americans. I want my government to ignore me unless I ask for help. Paying taxes is acceptable as long as I feel I am getting valuable services in return, like national defense and a fair and righteous judicial system. These days, that’s increasingly in doubt.

Mostly, I want to be left alone to do my own thing on my own time and on my own dime. I don’t need the government to tell me if I eat too much meat or burn too much firewood. I don’t want them to tell me how much of my money I can withdraw from the bank at one time or how long the barrel on my rifle can be. No one living in a city who can take a bus or subway to work should tell me I must drive an electric vehicle or prohibit me from owning a gas stove.

Government needs to recognize the Constitution limits the power of the government, not the people. I want to be able to exercise my rights and to have the country governed by people who have its best interests at heart, not entrenched bureaucrats who are trying to expand their power base by creating and expanding rules and regulations well beyond what Congress intended and the Constitution allows.

Disappearing Freedom

A lifetime of monitoring has replaced our freedom. Government agencies suck up our phone calls and texts like a Dyson vacuuming the dirt from a soiled carpet. Our cars know where we are, how fast we are going and report it to giant databases. Our phones know our heart rate, how far we walked, and when women menstruate. Social media knows who we hang out with, our bad habits, and what will mesmerize us, creating a nation of zombies. The Internet knows our shopping habits and feeds us music it predicts we will enjoy while Google records our every search query.

We are no more free than a dog with a shock collar is free.

From the day a child is born, the government regulates its life. For centuries, that was not the case. When my parents were born, no one forced the parent to give the child vaccines, told them what they must feed it, arrested the parents if food was scarce some days, or force-fed the child propaganda in government schools. My parents didn’t have to get a social security number until they got a job. They were free to run barefoot in the fields, get in fist fights at school and call each other names without state supervision or interference.

The Blood of Tyrants

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots.” It is evident who the many tyrants are, but less obvious when patriots will rise up.

At some point, Americans will tire of government policies that force them to pay more for their mortgage so someone with a low credit score and no savings can avoid paying the price of their bad behavior. Likewise, Americans resent paying more taxes so those who have high student-load balance can avoid paying their loans. At least college students are Americans; we’re sending hundreds of millions to Ukraine with little or no oversight. I would be happier being for the Ukrainians and against the Russians if I was convinced our government was for the American people .

Americans are also tired of politicians they send to Washington to represent them coming back from D.C. as multimillionaires. Corruption appears to be rampant from the top down.

One day, we will reach the last straw, and I expect you and I will be as surprised as the government at what sets off the next revolution. Americans are approaching the point of revolt. You can see early signs of it. The anger is building. The water is getting hot, and the frog is beginning to realize something is wrong. Will the frog stew until it is too late, or will it will jump out of the saucepan and become fighting mad? Or perhaps those outside of the pot will realize their fate if they do nothing and rebel.

The elite would do well to remember that while frogs may be small, there were enough of them in Exodus to be a plague. Boil us at your own risk.