No Longer The Land Of The Free - Part 2

Last month we reviewed nine different ways in which Americans are not as free as they once were, as they may think they are, or how much freer they could be. This concept was the basis for our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government." In summary form, here are those eight reasons why we are not living in a free country any more:

1. You are not free when the government confiscates and abuses 40% of your earnings every year for taxes, earnings that you cannot use to better your kids education, start a new business, support a favorite charity, or just use it as you wish.
2. You are not free when the political class gerrymanders Congressional districts to ensure certain parties always win certain districts, denying those voters of the opposite party in that district any say in who governs them.
3. You are not free when the political class controls the Presidential primary schedule and denies certain citizens the right to vote in primaries if their state's voting schedule is inconsistent with the schedule of the Federal political class (e.g. Democratic Party primary in Florida in 2009).
4. You are not free if a political class politburo disguised as "Super Delegates" can overturn the results of the Democratic Party's primary results.
5. You are not free if the government can take over your home and property, almost on a whim, and turn it over to private developers, abusing the imminent domain principle (Supreme Court Kelo case).
6. You are not free if the government has wide ranging rights to invade your phone records, library histories, and Internet activity with minimal judicial protection as it can via the Patriot Act.
7. You are not free if you allow your government to abuse non-Americans via trade embargoes (e.g. Cuba), torture (Iraq), and imprisonment without trial (Guantanamo) because it makes it easier to do the next time, which may eventually involve U.S. citizens.
8. You are not free if those that are in office are allowed to hold you in contempt by calling you un-American (Nancy Pelosi), smelly (Harry Reid), assholes (Van Jones), Neanderthals (Florida Democratic Congressman), or racists (numerous Democrats) just because you disagree with government actions.

These eight reasons are bad enough to deny us our freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill Of Rights, but I have come across several other causes for us losing our liberty. The new reasons are related to the prophetic words of Barry Goldwater:

"A government big enough to give you anything you want is big enough to take it all away."

Given Barry's words, consider these other, more subtle forms of freedom denial:

1. In an interview with famous housing economist, Robert Shiller, in the April 12, 2010 issue of Business Week, it was reported that the Federal government is now involved in, and controls to varying degrees, over 80% of all housing market activity.
2. The Federal government has controlling interest in the nation's biggest auto company, from a market share perspective, General Motors.
3. The Federal government controls the primary retirement funding vehicle for tens of millions of Americans via Social Security.
4. The Federal government controls the primary retirement medical insurance and care for tens of millions of older Americans via Medicare and Medicaid.
5. The Federal government will control much more of everyone's medical insurance and care in the near future unless the hideous Obama care legislation is repealed.
6. The Federal government is one of the biggest factors in public education, (and we all know how poorly that sector is performing).
7. The Federal government is the biggest landowner in the country and after the Kelo ruling, can now more easily expand that leadership position.
8. The Federal government, through earmarks and the politicians already in office, provides a significant source of re-election funds for incumbents by trading taxpayer money for campaign donations.

Think about it. Less than 600 people (members of Congress and the top ranking members of the executive branch) now control our retirement funding, the level of our medical care, how and how well our children are educated, possibly what type of cars we can drive, whether or not we can keep our land and property, and can use our tax dollars to keep themselves in office via earmarks regardless of how poorly they perform their duties. The only thing that they have not gone after is our food supply but if they follow the lead of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela (see how Chavez controls his country's food supply in a previous post to this blog), that form of control cannot be far behind.

Thus, I hope I have convinced you that we are no longer a free people. Privacy invasion, control of our earnings, control of our retirement and medical care, etc., are forms of control and control and liberty are always inversely related, as one goes up the other goes down. And it is not as if we have traded our freedom for outstanding service. Our schools fail, our drug policy fails, our energy policy fails, our medical system fails, our foreign policy fails, and we pay trillions of dollars for these failures. That is why Step 39 (Term Limits for Congressional members) in "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" is so critical. We cannot let the politicians get so entrenched that they hold the power of life and death over us. We need a new generation of office holders that are dedicated to restoring our freedom and placing control back in our hands, not the hands of the infamous 600 in D.C.

Our new book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.