That's what Janis said, anyway. Right?
In all the political uproar over the last couple of decades, the one thing I don't hear about is how we actually define "Freedom." What does it mean to be free? What does it have to do with Liberty?
I have my own definition for Freedom. And it's very close to the one for Liberty. Freedom is having the choice to do the right thing for you. Abortion advocates cry aloud the mantra "right to choose!" at every opportunity, only on top of the right to choose some even say it's their right to make someone else pay for their choice. But I digress. Let's stay on topic, Cy.
The last year and a half has been very illustrative of what I really mean by "right to choose." Across the country, and even across the globe, people were bombarded with mandates and bans, all meant "for our own good." Mask wearing. Social distancing. Closing business after business, grinding whole economies to screeching halts. All in the name of "what's best for you."
Removal of choice.
Mandates and bans are the opposite of Freedom. The opposite of Liberty. Because they represent the removal of choice. Comply. Do "A" or face consequences. Do NOT do "B" or face consequences. And everyone who asked why was shamed, ostracized, canceled, smothered and silenced by the Mob.
Only one problem. That's not what our country is. Mandates and bans are for tyrants and dictators. The United States is a nation of free citizens. FREE citizens. Not subjects. Our constitution, the foundation that defines us, has as its primary focus, security of the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. It's right there. Read it.
What that means is that we should be free to make our own choices about masks and social distancing. And just because I don't sign onto your flavor of the month on mask policy, doesn't mean I want to come up to you and cough in your face. It also doesn't mean that mask policies in and of themselves are bad. It just means we have the right under our constitution, our basic law, to be part of the solution and not just compliant sheep. we are free citizens, and able to make our own decisions about our health, thank you very much.
Freedom is a big thing in this country. a BIG thing. People died to give us the freedom to choose. Not just a couple, or a hundred, or even a thousand. Hundreds of thousands of people fought with their very lives to make sure we had a place where a person could choose how they wanted to provide for themselves, where they could decide on their own which God they wanted to worship, or even IF they wanted to worship.
Now we have people in office who want to tax us on how many miles we drive in our cars. We have mandates. We have bans. We have tyranny.
It's not about what's the right thing to do. It's about giving us the facts so we can decide for ourselves what the right thing to do is. Because what's right for you isn't necessarily right for me, and vice versa. It's about forcing compliance, one for all. Seat belts are a fantastic idea. But not everyone wants to wear seat belts. Face masks are a great idea. But not everyone can wear them. Everyone is allowed to have an opinion. But just because it's your opinion, doesn't mean it has to be a law for everyone else.
Freedom is the sacred right to choose, each free citizen, whatever choice is right for them in their own heart.
Don't throw it away.
