On Being Free

As today is July fourth, I found it appropriate to honor the tradition of celebrating American independence by examining what exactly it means to be free.

Definition of Freedom: 1)the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint. 2)exemption from external control 3)the power to determine action without restraint 4)political or national independence...13)the right to frequent, use, or enjoy at will.
(Webster's College Dictionary. Random House. New York. Copyright 2001)

I suppose this pondering about being free began with a conversation with a Lebanese exchange student. I asked him how he liked America so far, and his answer surprised me. He said "Eh, is okay, but I come from a country where we are free. Here you are not free." This jarred me, because I had always thought that we were a free country.

Are we free? Well, we certainly started out so. As a young country, America had a stable, but small government, and every American citizen was entitled to certain rights. I think the most important ideal that helped shape this country was that every man was equal. By this I mean that every citizen of the United States of America had equal opportunity to pursue his own happiness. Whether this was found in starting a business or participating in politics, each person had the equal opportunity to do so by law. The government simply served as a guide in the least oppressing sense. The government was simply there to protect the rights of its people.

We may still have the rights that we did as a young country on paper, but the power of those rights is dwindling as the freedom to act upon said rights is drowned out by certain restraints of the law. More and more we are oppressed by laws that are seemingly put in place to protect us from ourselves. The intent may be good, but what are we really accomplishing by setting these laws into motion? When a government becomes powerful enough to reach into every aspect of the lives of its citizens, then its power begins to whittle away at the freedom of the people.

My example: Seatbelt and helmet laws. I realize that it is important to be safe while operating fast-moving or heavy equipment, but I still think that it should be up to the individual whether he or she wishes to practice safety. These laws are meant to protect us from ourselves, but what they are doing is taking away our ability to think and act of our own free will. Common sense is a lot less common than it used to be. When the government thinks for us, we lose the ability to think for ourselves. If one chooses not to wear a seatbelt or a helmet, one is also choosing to accept the consequences should he or she crash.

By saying this, I am not advocating all abandonment of safety. In fact, when laws involve the safety of others, I am willing to consider them, but I do not think that it is the government's job to protect me from myself. That is no one's job but mine.

Nor am I saying that it is not practical for a company to require hard-hats for its workers if conditions call for it. But, that is up to the company to create such a policy, and not up to the government. And, if said company has no such policy in place and a worker feels endangered, he or she is FREE to wear equipment that will ensure his or her safety.

I know this is a small issue (helmets and seatbelts), but I think its political status right now illustrates the dwindling freedom of the citizens of this country. It mirrors the larger issues that are threatening our freedom as Americans, such as the new healthcare bill. By socializing medicine, we will no longer be able to choose our own health insurance or our own doctors. That is not freedom.

So I have come to the conclusion that we are not a free country anymore. Yes, our rights (for the time being) are still in place, but they are slowly being overwritten by the government's need to "take care" of everyone.

This made me realize why for the past few years I have felt hollow on Independence Day. We are regressing and becoming the very thing we worked so hard to escape in the American Revolution. Now, I invite all you true patriots to celebrate hope. Hope that one day, we will take back the freedoms that we have lost. Let it fill your hearts this Independence Day and let Freedom ring!