Another excellent piece by Rey Gonzalez
I came across a Frank Zappa meme quote on the interwebz, or perhaps it was Abe Lincoln or John Lennon. Can’t be too sure now days who, if anyone, actually said it. Anywho, the message started off with ‘the illusion of freedom.” Of course, the elongated quote (no date or circa) implied woke, liberal, libtard, bias, so I’m going to go with Zappa on this one, or Lennon. What captured my attention were the first four words, which guided me to think albeit, from another perspective. What is our belief and/or how do we consider what freedom is today, as opposed to those who came before us?
To read of our Founding Fathers discussing, debating and speaking of liberty and freedom, you (we) may be inclined to believe that they had some knowledge and/or experience with such subject matter. It is apparent that they understood the monarchy governance of England and Europe at the time. They knew that was no way to raise a Country. They spoke and wrote frequently and openly of their concerns about what it would take to maintain one’s liberty, how liberty could be taken away, and how freedoms could be lost.
On August 14, 2016, Scott D Welch wrote in In Search of Liberty that “A simple definition of the word liberty is ‘the state or condition of people who are able to act and speak freely.’ It includes freedom from restraint or control from almost anything, other than illegal or harmful activities. When one looks around today, we do see our freedoms being lessened, while our government has morphed into an uncontrollable behemoth where the political elitists do as they please and damned be the people.” Today, his last sentence speaks volumes to me and many of us here on FR. Here are but a few samples of what some of our Founding Fathers said:
James Madison: If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington: Our liberty can never be safe but in the hands of the people themselves.
Thomas Jefferson: The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards. And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.
John Adams artfully wrote: “You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it.” This one hit home.
Amazing forethoughts written and spoken by these men. But time has passed. Our Country is now 246 years old since the declaration was signed and brought in to govern these United States. And what is the most we have given up, surrendered if you will, as a nation, as a people, as family unit, as a person? If you consider our Constitution our bedrock, our corner stone, our mountain, then we can see that today, the bedrock, the stone and/or the mountain has been chiseled, hammered and eroded.
Do we have the free will of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Good argument. A Marxist, communist, socialist, liberal may argue that yes, you have free will. You have the free will to walk, or ride bike a few miles to the closest corner store, with your papers in hand, prove you have not received your loaf of bread, 6 eggs, and one pound of ground coffee mixed with garbanzo pea shells, twigs and leaves, for the month, if it’s in stock. The pound of powdered (questionable additives) baby formula is only available to family toddlers under 3 years of age. Now that’s free will and liberty. You also have the free will and liberty to catch mice, squirrels, household pets, or go to the zoo and see what animal is left, to find some protein to eat. Closer to home, what free will and liberty do we have? The conservative moral and God-fearing folks say we do. Purchasing power? Intrastate travel? The Interwebz? Posting on a board or social media platform? That last one is tricky, isn’t it? Why? Because we have come to put up with the one-side censorship and allowed it to happen. And we continue to allow the erosion of such free will, life and liberty. Are people in major metropolitan areas, i.e., NY, Chicago, SF, Portland, Philly, free from crime and the fear of crime? Are we free and at liberty to walk or drive at any time of day without fear of having our freedom and liberty brought to an instant end? Will we arrive at that point in time where “show me your papers” without any wrong-doing or due process becomes the norm? Do we have free will, or do we have free will?
I use the word “we” because it is WE who’ve allowed this to happen. We’ve (as in many of us, not all) become accustomed to being emotionally detached, show no emotions, or have achieved a flat effect. Therein lies the erosion of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The pounding of the waves on the shoreline makes the sand believe there’s nothing it can do but erode away; that’s the way it is. But we are not sand. Some of us are waves, though. They enjoy eroding others.
And this brings me to the crumbling and slow dissolution of our political system, not intended to be so, I believe, by our Founding Fathers, our Constitution, and our morals, values and principles. And who guides and directs us to this destructive end? Our politicians. Those politicians that come to major cities, suburbs, farms (where they stand on a pile of cow excrement to use as their raised platform…. a reference to a Reagan joke) to talk and promise. I’m not picking sides. All politicians are the same. Both sides. Yet, we keep voting them in. Those same politicians who make up Congress and avoid doing what has been constitutionally instructed and entrusted on/to them. Just one case in point: the government bureaucracies making/writing laws for the people. Who voted these people to such power? When did we consent to the delegation of such powers? Why does Congress pass it on to these bureaucracies by shunning and steering clear of their duties? Why do we have laws when these bureaucracies decide who, what, when and where to enforce and/or prosecute? From the Federal government level, all the way down to State, local, school boards, and HOAs, we’ve surrendered. Is this life? Liberty? The pursuit of happiness?
What we have today is an illusion of freedom. We can argue that we have a form of illusional governance. The little freedoms and liberties we have left today are eroding quickly. All it takes is a pulling down of that curtain. Keep in mind, it’s all about the $$$$ and the profits for these politicians. I leave you with the following closing: I truly hope and desire that WE, the people, use prudence and due diligence, under God, to correct what’s been tainted.
I ask that you read the following statement.
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 affect 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.
Thank you for reading and God bless all of you.
