And the Winner Is?!.......................... Not Liberty or You!

The Revolutionaries of 1776 forged a new Republic based on liberty, and the premise that all men are created with natural and inalienable rights. The Founding Fathers believed that humankind should be free of tyranny, whether it was found in the economic or the political domain. Through the annals of our history, Americans have looked to these freedoms and the value of equality of opportunity as the pillars of a new fountain of civilization and a break from the Old World by the New. But this rupture is not the final chapter of the story, actually this is the opening installment of a long running epic, a challenge to those asking whether the fresh air of freedom shall be perpetuated or will tyranny descend upon the body politic. As a young Abraham Lincoln argued many years ago, the revolutionary generation bequeathed these values of liberty and equality to their successors, but problematic was whether these inheritors understood the treasure which was being passed. Lincoln argued the new generations had to be vigilant and on guard against tyranny. Ronald Reagan further elucidated this sentiment, “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Therefore, these great men were in agreement that there is a constant existential struggle between those who are the vanguards of freedom against those who support the expansion of tyranny. With the exception of the Civil War, probably nowhere else in American history has such a threat manifested itself than in the contemporary period. In our midst, we see constant attacks on liberty, whether economic or political. The calls for lock downs and the shutting down of small, so-called, non-essential enterprises under the guise of safety, is a form of authoritarianism and an affront to free peoples. In retrospect, it is inconceivable to think that small businesses would not be allowed an opportunity to follow the rules and regulations which enabled large corporations to stay open and reap huge profits. The concept of equality for all is rooted in the notion that the rules and regulations are applied to all in a similar fashion. To give preferential treatment to large entities, such as Wal-Mart and Costco, at the expense of small entrepreneurs undermines, not only the concept of equality of opportunity, but economic liberty as well. In addition, the lock downs caused an incalculable number of workers to lose access to income and economic independence and instead these laborers were forced onto the dole and dependence on the government for sustenance. This is tyranny and calls for “being safe” cannot alter the equation. Likewise, in the political domain, many of our sacred freedoms were squelched by the leviathan state in the name of safety. Attempts to assemble to protest the lock downs were challenged by the state which argued such meetings caused the spread of the Corona virus. But the same officials acquiesced to rioters and demonstrators who were gathering under the guise of fighting racism. Such doublespeak and the denial of equal protection was shocking to common folks who could see through the obvious hypocrisy of such a position. Others, who spoke contrary to the official line were refuted without rationale, or were rejected as propagators of misinformation. Nowhere since the Sedition Acts of 1798 has the right to speak openly on an issue in peacetime been subverted by the government than in the present. The government’s claims that it is working hand in hand with big tech to stop demagogic misinformation is reminiscent of the media in totalitarian states and a sad reminder of how far we have fallen. The Supreme Court has never ruled that “misinformation” is a form of speech which is unconstitutional. We the people and our institutions have allowed these policies to not only creep into the body politic, but dominate the public debate. We must wonder why so many are supportive of extinguishing fundamental freedoms in the name of safety and what will be the next issue which causes a subversion of our economic and political liberties. (possibly climate change-AOC says we have 12 more years to live before the world comes to an end!!!)