The last time my wife went in to see her oncologist, (cancer doctor), she was shown a piece of paper and told to pick which gender she identified with. The list contained the normal male/female choices, as well as lesbian, transgender, transsexual, and non-gender specific. That was the first time she’d ever had to explain the obvious to a medical facility, and she let them know in no uncertain terms how ridiculous she thought that was. So far I’ve been fortunate enough to have not been asked that question. I say fortunate, because I’d hate to have to drop my drawers down to my ankles for the receptionist and say, “Gee, you tell me.”

I suppose if people are that mixed up regarding their own gender identity, that’s their problem, not mine. I do have to say though that things have changed pretty radically since I was a youth. Back then, men were men, women were women, and then there were queers. I know that word might not be politically correct these days, but that’s just the way it was 50 some odd years ago. Somehow, between the years 1958 and 2020, something happened; causing more and more people to become confused as to which gender they identify with.

Listen, I don’t honestly care if men identify as women, if women identify as men, if they can’t make up their minds what gender they are, or if they identify as farm animals as far as that goes; so long as their own lifestyle choices don’t interfere with mine. It is when their choices and decisions force me to alter my life to conform to their beliefs that I begin having problems with this nonsense. The reason I bring this up is not to berate these people, (although I do sometimes question their sanity); the reason I bring it up is because I think that America, as a nation, suffers from an identity crisis of epic proportions.

If you were to ask a large gathering of people what they stood for, what they thought this country stood for, you’d probably get a different answer from each and every one of them. I may be strange, but to me that is no different than a man, or woman, who is confused as to their own gender; only this time these people vote and those they vote for pass laws, and impose, taxes that directly affect me.

There was a time, however long ago it may have been, and for however brief a period it may have been, that this country stood together in support of the concept of individual liberty. Today, if you were to ask people why they vote for the candidates they do, I can almost guarantee that none of them will say they vote that way to ensure that their liberty remains intact. Most everyone these days has their own reason for voting for whomever it is they cast their votes for, and the reasons are as wide ranging as are the people who vote. Yet very few, if any, will tell you that they are voting to secure liberty to themselves and their posterity.

The problem today is that most people don’t know what individual liberty is, nor do they care that they are losing it. Individual liberty is, well, individual in nature; meaning that no one can infringe upon or restrict the liberty of another; nor can one group restrict the liberty of another group. According to one dictionary, individual liberty is defined as: the liberty of those persons who are free from external restraint in the exercise of those rights which are considered to be outside the province of a government to control. Liberty can be summed up in four simple words; LIVE AND LET LIVE. Yet people today seem unable to live by that motto; they constantly seek to force their views and opinions upon others.

In 1772, Samuel Adams wrote, “Among the Natural Rights of the Colonists are these First. a Right to Life; Secondly to Liberty; thirdly to Property; together with the Right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.” Think and hard about that; the rights of life, liberty, and property are our natural rights; meaning they are outside the province of government to limit or restrict.

Furthermore, it is our natural right to be allowed to defend those rights in the best manner we can.

Who poses the most serious threats to our liberty; is it government, the people in general, or a combination of both? I believe it is the latter. If you have a neighbor or co-worker who is diametrically opposite of you in their political beliefs, do they come over and personally impose taxes upon you, and pass laws that deprive you of your rights? No, they vote for others to do that in their stead; yet it is by large groups of people, voting together as a unified block, that ‘political parties’ gain control of this system of government; which then passes laws and imposes taxes that violate the rights and liberty of the opposition.

Once it is discovered that the coercive power of a system of government can be used for the benefit of some, at the cost of the oppression of others, people will battle for control of that system; preferring to be a master rather than a slave. Lysander Spooner explained that principle way back in 1780, “...it is to be considered that, without his consent having even been asked a man finds himself environed by a government that he cannot resist; a government that forces him to pay money, render service, and forego the exercise of many of his natural rights, under peril of weighty punishments. He sees, too, that other men practise this tyranny over him by the use of the ballot. He sees further, that, if he will but use the ballot himself, he has some chance of relieving himself from this tyranny of others, by subjecting them to his own. In short, he finds himself, without his consent, so situated that, if he use the ballot, he may become a master; if he does not use it, he must become a slave.”

If a system of government was truly established to preserve the liberty of the governed, it would contain iron clad restrictions upon that government’s ability to pass any law, impose any tax, that would oppress the minority, or the individual. Furthermore, if said system was designed to secure the liberty of the governed it would also contain a means by which the governed could punish those they chose to represent them should they breach that trust and make a tyrannical use of their power.

Our Constitution does neither of those things; it leaves the door wide open for the majority to oppress the minority, and that’s all elections are these days; battles between two opposing ideologies who seek to control each other; liberty be damned!

Those of us who recognize this fatal flaw in the system, and try to educate others as to that flaw, are denigrated and insulted; called all manner of names, and told that we must submit to government’s authority, and try to work within the system to correct things. We are told that if we do not vote we do not have the right to complain. Is that so? My vote did not put these criminals into positions of authority where they could tyrannize and oppress others; your votes did; so it should be you who lose the right to whine and complain about the laws they pass.

I don’t care which side of the political fence you fall upon, any system that allows for a simple majority to elect people who will, then go about the business of passing laws that violate your rights, is not a good system to live under; for at any time you may find that your rights and liberty are in danger.

It is accepted that the two warring factions in America, the Democrats and the Republicans, will fight each other, with both sides saying the other side sucks. But, if you say the system that allows for that kind of behavior sucks, well, you have crossed the line and you are evil; un-American. And that’s the problem right there; those spewing that garbage do not know what it means to be an American; they have lost their identity as Americans.

An American would not stand for the system we have today, nor the tyranny and oppression it imposes upon the governed. An American would not participate in choosing between masters; the lesser of two evils, every few years. An American would get off their ass and defend not only their liberty, but the liberty of those they disagreed with. As George Orwell said, “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

So I’m here to tell you, America has lost its collective identity; it no longer stands for what those brave patriots in 1776 risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to obtain. We have a system of government that sucks, and is fought for by people who care nothing about liberty; all they care about is gaining control of the system so that they can impose their will upon others.

That is not freedom, and as far as I’m concerned, that is not what it means to be an American. So go ahead and keep supporting this system; keep voting; for the words Democrat and Republican are just different words describing the same thing…TYRANTS.

As John Adams once wrote to his wife, “Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good Use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.” Our Founders must be looking down upon us from heaven, weeping at what we are allowing to happen to the liberty they fought so hard to obtain. I hope you’re happy with yourselves; for you make me sick!

February 11, 2020

 

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross, Student of history, politics, patriot and staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Send all comments to: bonsai@syix.com.