The definition of freedom, according to Webster’s dictionary is:
n. 1. The state of being free; exemption from the power and control of another; liberty; independence.
In normal usage this state of freedom means being exempt from the power and control of government. While we consider that we live in a free country, the truth is that we find ourselves in many situations having our freedom compromised. To drive a car we are required to wear a seat belt. If we work we are required to pay taxes on the income we derive from the giving of our labor. In short, there are all kinds of laws and rules set up by government at all levels that we agree contribute to our safety and for the well being of society in general. However, there comes a point where government can exceed a line where laws and rules become oppressive. The Founding Fathers well understood that from having lived under a powerful monarch and a colonial government that created taxes and other laws to the colonies detriment. It was for this reason that they enshrined the notion that we are all born with “inalienable” rights from a higher power (higher than the government of man) that cannot be abridged and established us as a representative republic whose sovereign is the people. While this intent was admirable, it is obvious we have moved far away from that ideal and today live in a society that is much less free than they had imagined and, to me, becoming less free with each passing day.
My personal first realization of the power of the modern state occurred when I was 19. I was rather idealistic at the time, a hippie, a declared socialist, avowed atheist and someone who was completely opposed to the Viet Nam war. In my freshman year of college I boycotted classes to participate in demonstrations against the war and even helped to occupy the ROTC building at my college, Northern Illinois University. However, at the same time in my 19th year I found out that I had received a number 19 in that year’s draft (actually the last year of the draft) and it was also the first year that there no longer student deferments. Despite my wanting to have no part of the war or the military that was fighting it, I was left with few choices. I could have refused and gone to jail, tried to flee to Canada and be a felon on the run, I could just accept the draft or I could volunteer and at least pick my job, though the fine print said that there was no guarantee of that and they could use me where they saw fit doing whatever they saw fit, including handing me an M16 and going to a rice paddy. While I have a different view of that war today, the point is that I really could not exercise my free will and was compelled to support something I was 100% percent opposed to or else. Only an all powerful government could do that to a citizen.
Today we are seeing a whole new set of arbitrary executive orders that have restricted our freedoms due to the pandemic. I am not going to debate whether some or all of the mandates were necessary or effective, my only point is that governors, mayors and even unelected bureaucrats have dictated to us how we must dress, do business and even interact with others. Where in the constitution did that arbitrary authority come from? These things were not even approved by our elected legislative representatives, rather by members of the executive branch, the branch that is only supposed to enforce laws, not create them. I cannot verify a quote I heard from Mark Steyn, a conservative pundit, but it makes the point. He said that PM Boris Johnson of Great Britain (Steyn is from GB), when asked what was the most significant thing he had learned from the pandemic. Keep in mind this is a person who contracted the virus himself. He was purported to have said, “I was shocked at how easy it was to take away people’s rights and think it will be very difficult to give them back.” Here in Indianapolis, for example, the mayor has kept a mask and other mandates in place a full 2 months after the state governor had removed mandates from the rest of the state. There is no longer a pretense of health considerations as even the CDC says these mandates are no longer needed. It is just a blatant imposition of his power.
Increasingly the federal government is taking control of the economy. As Lenin often said, once I have taken your economic power, I will control your political rights. Think about it, if the government provides your housing, your food, your utilities, the education of your children, your healthcare how likely are you to criticize that authority? On a macro level, the extreme debt we continue to build is threatening our freedoms in other ways. They call the spending of trillions of our tax dollars and debt as “investments” but how can state planners make good investment decisions in an economy as large and dynamic as ours? The more the government spends and taxes the more they crowd out efficient investing by the private sector. Increased regulation also hinders the creation and growth of small businesses. Who can better deal with higher levels of regulation, an established large corporation with scores of lawyers and lobbyists or a sole entrepreneur? I remember a few years ago when Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook was “dragged” before a Senate investigative committee exploring whether Facebook and other tech giants were becoming too powerful? At the end, the chief interrogator, Dick Durbin of Illinois (I will refrain from saying what I think of Mr. Durbin) said to Zuckerberg that the Senate really did not understand hi tech and, since Facebook had all of these experts, would he be willing to help draft the regulations for his own industry. Zuckerberg literally started coming out of his chair and, with a large smile on his face, enthusiastically said Yes! Is there any surprise then that today the Democrat party is the party of Wall Street, Silicon Valley, big media, and large companies in general? More regulations, the less competition.
Finally, our freedom of speech. We live in a world increasing dominated by a “woke” mentality and a cancel culture. It would be bad enough if it were being perpetrated by university professors, big tech and the main stream media. Today is also being done by elected officials, bureaucrats and even the President. In some ways I am most surprised by universities. In my youth the University of California at Berkley was the home of the free speech movement, yet today the university routinely cancels the speaking engagements of conservatives. Young, impressionable students who are supposed to learning to think for themselves are instead being brainwashed to just one way of thinking. In the broader society if you say you don’t believe our country is systemically racist (something no one ever tries to define) you are told you are a racist. Sit down and shut up or we will make you pay a price, like attacking your home or person. If you say your religious views tell you that abortion on demand, gay marriage or gender reassignments are wrong you are called a religious bigot. Sit down and shut up or else. If you question whether a $2+ trillion infrastructure budget is actually going to spend on infrastructure you’re told you are anti-children and anti-family. Sit down and shut up or else. Please notice that I am not saying any of these points of view are necessarily right. My primary objection is that reasonable differences of opinion increasing cannot be discussed. Rather people are called names and punished for daring to even express an opinion that goes against progressive ideology. If reasonable people are not allowed to engage in reasonable discussion that is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech and presents a grave threat to our way of life.