Liberty in America means that Americans possess certain inalienable rights. These include the right to speak freely, the right to express themselves freely, the right to subscribe or not subscribe to religion in general or a given religion in particular, the right to assemble, the right to move, the right to accept or reject whatever orthodoxies and ideologies which are thrust upon them, the right to live their lives as they see fit, the right to be governed by democratically elected representatives of the people and so on...in short, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The key word in this is ‘to’... Americans are free to make their own decisions and live according to their conscience and principles. That is what liberty in the United States means. It is the freedom to do or not do something, anything, the freedom to make choices and act them out.
Liberty means freedom ‘to’ and always has in the United States. It is why the country was founded in the first place and why people from all over the world are doing everything they can to come to its shores and have throughout its history. It goes without saying that the freedom ‘to’ has served the country and its people exceedingly well over the years and that the U.S. became the most prosperous nation in the history of the world because of it. People were -- are -- free to make something of themselves and those that wanted to badly enough and were willing to work hard enough have always done exactly that. America truly is the land of opportunity and it is because people in America are free ‘to’.
Left wing ideologues in the United States, the most prominent of whom is that well known socialist President Obama, are trying to change all of that. They are trying to change the notion and reality of individual liberty in the U.S. to freedom ‘from’ instead of freedom ‘to’. Freedom ‘from’ want and need is the new mantra and centralized big government which controls and pays for everything is seen as the solution to everyone’s problems, especially their financial problems. Personal responsibility for one’s life is viewed as a quaint notion because if one’s life is unsatisfactory it is the fault of someone or something else; bankers, Wall Street traders, capitalists, capitalism, anyone or anything. Blame is the name of the game and centralized big government is the magic pill which will supposedly solve all of societies problems.
These left wing ideologues want nothing more than to turn America into a nation of subservient, dependent robots unable and unwilling to think or act for themselves. That in turn will mean that the ideologues will be free to do whatever they want to with the country, which is really their ultimate goal. Freedom for me but not for thee is what its actually all about...turning the United States into a giant socialist bureaucracy which ultimately controls everything and everyone with themselves at the top of the heap is really where the ideologues are attempting to take us.
Never mind that the capitalist, free market system in the U.S. has done more good for more people than any other economic system in the history of the world. Never mind that American freedom and democracy have brought more benefits to more people than any other political system in the history of the world. Never mind that capitalism, the market economy and freedom and democracy would be destroyed in America if the socialist, left wing ideologues got their way. Never mind that what they want to do would close doors for most people, not allow or enable people to open them. Never mind that what they want to do is impossible financially and can only lead to financial collapse on an unprecedented scale. None of that is the point.
The point is that left wing ideologues think they know better than the rest of us and want to get themselves in power to repudiate our history and way of life and turn the United States into a socialist country with themselves making the decisions and everyone else dependent on their largesse.
Will they get away with it? Time will tell.
So will how authorities react to the upcoming riots and destructive activities of the Occupy movement, otherwise known as the Something for Nothing Movement. The signs won’t be good if Occupiers are allowed free rein to try and bring down our economic, political and social systems and to wantonly destroy personal and public property and threaten, intimidate and beat up people in the process. They’ll be much better if authorities react to lawlessness accordingly, with force if necessary, and don’t allow the useful idiots in the Occupy movement to hold the rest of us hostage.
The results of the Presidential election this coming November will also be telling. If Obama gets elected again the left wing ideologues have an awfully good chance to succeed. If not, there’s hope for us yet.
Jerry Philipson is a retired grandfather who has spent many years working in non-profit social service agencies in Canada and the United States. He holds dual Canadian and American citizenship and has been passionate about politics, civil liberties, freedom and democracy for virtually his whole life. He is particularly interested in the Middle East and America and believes that it is vital for people of good heart and good conscience to speak out against tyranny and dishonesty and to stand up and defend and protect Western values, principles and institutions.
