Where Have Our Freedoms Gone?
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin
In April of 1775, patriots drew first blood against the British at the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord to mark the beginning of the American Revolution.
The patriots famously rebelled against their mother country in opposition to taxation without representation and a monarch who ruled over their lives from thousands of miles away over the sea.
Soon followed this wonderful experiment in self-government, founded on enlightenment principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A government of the people, by the people, for the people.
For much of our country’s history, we have worked to expand these principles to more and more people throughout our own country and the world by making commitments to both the individual and the common good.
Today, our country is on a backward trajectory where the “common good” is now a scapegoat for increased government control and the abandonment of individual freedom.
But how did this happen? Where have our freedoms gone?
For the last year and a half, power-hungry politicians have forced businesses to close and individuals to lock themselves at home for the sake of the common good. In most cases, these edicts have been directed by individuals or entities with no constitutional authority over the populace.
The people did not vote CDC bureaucrats into office. But somehow, they have been authorized to make decisions about personal health, education, and housing. Someone, please share where in the Constitutions or statutory law, the Center for Disease Control is authorized to issue an eviction moratorium.
Weak individuals love to make the argument, “what’s the big deal about wearing a mask?”.
Well, our freedoms are not taken away all at once. If this were the case, people would be more likely to revolt. What started as “two weeks to slow the spread”, has turned into over a year to stop the spread for some areas of the country.
Eighteen months later and we still have not done away with masks, even though CDC officials admit they do not work!
Studies about the efficacy of vaccines versus natural immunity have recently revealed that natural immunity is more effective than getting the jab and that they do not stop the spread of the virus – they only suppress symptoms.
This means that getting a vaccine or not should be entirely up to the individual based on their own evaluation of the risks and rewards.
However, if you were to raise awareness about these findings on social media, you would be censored by most platforms. In YouTube conversations, people must use nicknames for vaccines and Covid-19 so that their content will not be removed from the platform.
And soon, you may be required to show proof of vaccination to participate in society. A logical question to ask ourselves is “What comes next?”.
People are being silenced, segregated, and isolated by a government and corporations hundreds of miles away with no regard for personal freedom or circumstance. If new variants continue to appear, government control and corporate censorship could get much worse here in the United States.
It is an unfortunate reality that there will always be a small group of people who want to control the masses. This gradual deterioration of freedom for the many is exactly how it has occurred throughout history and how it is happening today.
In 1930s Germany, Nazis gradually took away freedom from Jews for over half a decade. Not only did they take away their freedoms, but they created an environment of hostility and indifference toward the group. What started with small, seemingly harmless restrictions, ended with complete segregation from society by 1938.
Taking away the freedom of expression and freedom to associate for some Americans will not only violate the virtues of our founding, but we will witness a drastic decline in the cultural and technological ingenuity that over two centuries of freedom have afforded us.
Just as they were in April 1775, the eyes of the world are upon us once again. While America is far from perfect, our founding principles are grounded in virtue. If we are to continue as this great nation, to lead and expand our founding principles as a shining city on a hill, we must reject these intrusions on our freedom from both government and corporations.
Empires fall from the deterioration of freedom. If we do not reject these intrusions, we risk losing all that we have accomplished for the rights and freedoms of man.
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