My Thoughts on Freedom
by Bill Hinesley
Freedom; it’s a grand idea. So much so, that our founding fathers created a country around it. It gives each and every one of us the ability to take our lives in whatever direction that we choose. It allows us to open doors to wonders and opportunities that others can only dream of. It gives everyone an opportunity to live life to its fullest.
Despite its greatness, though, it does have a price. Many people fail to realize that there is responsibility that comes with freedom. You have to make decisions and sacrifices to benefit from the gift of freedom. In particular, you have to take responsibility for your own life. Decisions need to be made as to what you want to do with your life. Such as, do you want to set goals and a path to get there, to take life as it comes, or to coast along and be non-productive? Maybe you want to go to college where you temporarily forgo good pay for the possibility of better pay later. Do you choose to save for your retirement at the expense of more spending money now? Or maybe you would like to start your own business instead of working for some one else. All your choices are influential towards your success or failure. This is the greatness of our country, the ability to choose what kind of life you would like to live and strive for. It is your decision to make, all due to that priceless gift of freedom bestowed on us by our forefathers.
This country has become amazingly powerful due to our freedoms! It is what allows people to keep the rewards they have gained from their hard work and efforts. These rewards give people the incentive to put in that extra effort, that extra push, to achieve those extraordinary feats that are the hallmark of this wonderful country. It is this inherent incentive of freedom that makes our country so great. It is what makes America one of those amazing countries that comes along every thousand years or so. But if our government, in the guise of equality, tries to spread these rewards around to everyone, then that freedom and its incentives evaporate. That is because the government can only institute equality by taking the rewards from those who work, and giving them to those who do not. This is called redistribution of wealth and it eliminates the incentive of hard work that has propelled this nation to greatness. If you notice, I keep coming back to the idea of incentive; it is the driving force behind our national success! If you take that away, then you effectively consign our country to the trash bin making us just another footnote in history of man. Our freedom, by definition, is reliant on the government staying out of our lives. It is reliant on us having control and choice over our own pursuits. It is not the job of government to provide everyone with a good life; it is their job to provide stability, justice, and the defense of the country. The rest is up to you.
Freedom is the greatest gift that we have ever received. It is a gift from our forefathers, and from the many that have died or suffered for in its defense. It is a blessing that only a small minority of humans have ever had a chance to enjoy, a fragile and irreplaceable treasure that we cannot afford to lose. Our founding fathers knew what they were doing when they wrote the constitution with its protection of this freedom and in particular, the protection of our freedom from our own government’s intrusions.
Our president has gone on record stating that our constitution is fundamentally flawed; because it only addresses what the government cannot do to you, but it failed to address what the government should do on on your behalf (to you). There should never be any mention in the constitution as to what the government should do to you and such efforts will only lead to tyranny. The very idea is a direct attack on our freedoms and I am extremely concerned about a president who thinks that our constitution is fundamentally flawed.
I love my freedom and do not, in any way, want to abrogate it to the government. We do not need national health care, government automakers, government banks, or any of the other nationalistic ideas that we have seen lately. If we are to remain that shining beacon on the hill for all the world, then we must fight for our freedom and our country. Let’s get involved and every time they hit us, let’s hit them twice as hard back. Let’s hit them constantly, from every angle, and with every possible idea. Do not let these radicals rest or recoup. Be vigilant, be vocal, and let’s save our country! We owe it not only to our selves, but to our forefathers, our veterans, our children, and the people of the world. We need to keep the dream of freedom alive, for it is the greatest gift that we can ever hope to give to the future of the human race!