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What Rights have "I" Lost......
- Apr 9, 2009 at 3:42 PM
- By
- Comments (30) Total Views (1103) Everyone can see this journal post.
Another post posed the question "What rights Have I lost Exactly?"
I think this is an excellent question that most people don't give enough thought too. Quiet simply over the last 50 years we seem to have lost "True Liberty" and we seemed to be willing to accept it because we didn't really feel it that much, at first. It was a slow process and no politician was dumb enough to come out and say ..." I want to take away your right to do basic things like think for yourself, make a basic purchase, educate your children, ect as you wish in order to make way for my personal agenda."
Instead we are always sold the same line that we seem to buy everytime.... "This is good for society because....."
Each agenda proposing "Social Justice Policies" has the same purpose. Each attempts to regulate away our basic rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" In the hopes a politicians will can trump, individual will.
But we don't seem to be making the connection between how social laws impact personal liberty.
We seem conditioned to accept the montra that "Government Responsibility equals personal protection from all forms of harm or injustice". We have been willing to allow our liberty to be regulated away because we thought we would benefit from it. We hoped such policies would protect us from whatever boogie man was present at the time. We wanted to be safer economically, environmentally, or domestically.
But when we realize things like wars, medicare, medicaid, SChips, food stamps, welfare, ect.... are costly, full of fraud, and come with loss; we complain fervently. Yet we remain hooked on such policies? Even ask for more social programs! But why?
The answer is simple, because we don't remember what true individual liberty and freedom are or what they really feel like. We have become so used to government intervention in our lives we are afraid to take back the burden of personal freedom because that would equal personal responsibility. It would also mean we couldn't force others to live as we wished by regulating thier lives. We would have to bear burdens like duty to our country, family, each other and true tolerance of individual freedom. We seem to have a yearning for freedom from a tyrannical, over regulating, over taxing government power, but with the desire to believe we can breed social equality with no cost or loss to any individual liberties.
"Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plenitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.”
Thomas Jefferson
Comments:
Great post! and I agree with the pp, I'm sick of giving up MY rights to take care of MY family! It's ridiculous to think that Government can do it better.
Good post.
*cough*
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
This is up to individuals to interpret.
1 Thessalonians 5:3
While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
This is what comes to mind every time I hear of another bill to add regulations or restrictions on civil liberties.
I also remember back when the Iranians and the Lebanese were taking hostages left and right in the 80's and Ronald Reagan defied them to make Americans change the way we live based on fear. He defended our rights tooth and nail, but since 911, all we've done is hand them over on velvet pillows in the hopes that Uncle Sam will better able to protect us if we give up our freedom.
I'm sure my name is on more than one watch list because of my audacity to be vocal right here in little old CafeMom. Why? Because as a nation, we gave up the right to have open and honest discussions with one another without being monitored.
And that's only one right I've lost because of the fear and weakness of others.
Amen.
Remember when you were a young adult and you first realized that you could really get into serious trouble if you didn't "police" yourself? You learned that smoking or drinking to excess were poor choices for longevity.
You learned that buckling down and studying while difficult in the short term would reap benefits in the future. You might even have decided that an education loan while daunting could be paid back later after you had done the hard work and EARNED the degree that would allow you to earn a good wage and pay back the loan.
You learned that even though you didn't agree with some laws, like speed limits for example, that some things were important to "promote the general welfare" in that your personal rights (to speed)could not infringe on another person's rights (to travel safely).
Sometimes I think that we've become a nation of adolescents. So afraid that we've can't take care of ourselves or make the right choices for our own lives that we hand our freedom over to the government (parent) to legislate (discipline) us.
We've got a society that's being dictated by pragmatism and it's not going to be long before it all backfires!!
Oddly enough, I don't think we retain the right s of free speach or peaceful assembly any longer. There's too much in the way of censorship, and cops crack down on people who tend to 'congregate together' - even when they're doing nothing wrong.
What a wonderful perspcetive. Thank you for this heartfelt journal.
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great post! Very true. I can't stand giving up MY right to take care of MY family so some else can do it,,, half assed of course!
- NoahsMomma418
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