I think the measure of how free you believe yourself to be is directly proportional to the degree you feel you must support and defend the ‘need’ for government. Those who feel we MUST have government, and allow it to pass all these laws to keep us safe from each other, and our own stupidity, are among the most un-free people on the planet. On the other hand, those who would rather that government just step back and stay the hell out of their lives, and their wallets, are, at least, in spirit the freest people you’ll find in America.
I can’t recall where exactly I saw this, I’m thinking it was in the original Robocop film, but there was a scene in a movie where the bad guy was talking to someone and he said something along the lines of this: That’s genius. First you create a need for something, then you ensure that you’re the only one who can satisfy that need; thereby ensuring a perpetual demand for the services you provide. That, my friends, is the modus operandi of government; that right there.
I hear people talk about freedom from time to time and the things they say during their conversations leave me shaking my head in utter disbelief. For instance, people will say that they should be free to own whatever type guns they want, then they turn around and support laws telling people they cannot put this substance or that substance into their own bodies. So you think you can own a fully automatic rifle, but I can’t smoke a naturally occurring plant, or eat a naturally occurring mushroom like psilocybin.
I guess their idea of freedom is that they can do whatever they want, but when someone else does something they don’t like, then it is time for good old Uncle Sam to step in and criminalize that action; it makes perfect sense to me. (And that was sarcasm by the way)
Freedom; and I mean real freedom can be summed up in one simple concept: You don’t try to tell me how to live my life and I won’t tell you how you must live yours. So long as you don’t harm me, or take from me what is rightfully mine, you are free to do whatever the hell you want. But if you try to take from me something that isn’t yours to take, then you have violated my freedom and we’re gonna have issues. But people fear that which they don’t understand; and they don’t understand what real freedom is…so it scares the hell out of them when they see it.
I had started writing this a week or so ago and shelved it for lack of inspiration. Then this morning as I checked my updates on Facebook I ran across a scene from the film Easy Rider my friend Danielle Mottale posted about this exact subject. Known as the campfire scene, the transcript is as follows; and forgive any misquotes on my part:
George: You know, this used to be a hell of a good country. I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with it.
Billy: Man, everybody got chicken, that’s what happened here. We can’t even get into like a second rate hotel, I mean a second rate motel…you dig? They think we’re gonna cut their throat or something; they’re scared man.
George: Oh they’re not scared of you; they scared of what you represent to them.
Billy: Hey man, all we represent to them is somebody who needs haircuts.
George: No, what you represent to them is freedom.
Billy: What the hell’s wrong with freedom; that’s what it’s all about?
George: Oh yeah, that’s right, that’s what it’s all about. But talking about it and being it, that’s two different things. I mean it’s real hard to be free when you are bought and sold on the marketplace. Of course, don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free, cause then they’ll get real busy killing and maiming to prove to you that they are. Oh yeah, they gonna talk to you and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual and it’s gonna scare em.
Billy: Well it don’t make them running scared.
George: No, it makes them dangerous.
I was young when I first saw Easy Rider, so the scene didn’t particularly affect me in any way. I do think, however, that it planted a seed in the back of my mind that has since grown into a fuller understanding of what the actors were trying to say; that real freedom scares the bejeezus out of people; and that they will work tireless to subjugate and subdue anyone who exhibits it.
Which leads me to another scene from another movie; this time it is the film The Matrix when Morpheus is trying to explain to Neo the nature of the Matrix. Morpheus tells Neo, “The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.”
Why do you think, and this is directed at both liberals and conservatives, that you support a system which denies you your most basic human rights? Why do you continue to vote when the facts prove that the system itself keeps getting bigger, stronger, and your rights continue to diminish? How well has voting returned to you the rights that you have lost?
Those are questions you simply cannot get the average person to even consider; let alone act upon. For, if a person was to give those questions any thought the answers would shake their entire belief system to its core; and that also scares the hell out of people. But as John Adams said in his defense of the British soldiers accused or murder in the Boston Massacre, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
People today fear the truth; they fear being offended or having to question their beliefs; they fear being free; for being free means that they alone are responsible for every aspect of their lives. When you allow government to capitalize on that fear you create a nation of people who rely upon government; thereby turning once free men into slaves dependent upon government for a wide range of services that government was NEVER supposed to serve.
In America today the people live in an almost perpetual state of fear that is thinly hidden behind the veil of their day to day activities. Hell, we’re so scared were afraid of being scared; which I think is the clinical explanation for phobophobia; the fear of fear itself.
Our government knows this; it thrives and grows on it like fat cells grow in response to an overabundance of sugar in your diet. It needs your fear to pass all these Draconian laws which violate your rights and restrict your freedom. The media works hand in hand with government by fanning the flames of your fears; which makes you more easily pliable and willing to accept laws you would never otherwise accept.
I think Rahm Emmanuel explained that best when he said, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you could not do before.” You see, sometimes these rulers of ours part the curtain, so to speak, and give us a glimpse into the tactics they are using to enslave us; but we’re either too blind or too stupid to see the truths they have exposed.
If we weren’t so damned afraid of things our government wouldn’t have anything to do. Really! So our government needs the people to remain in a constant state of fear; fear of becoming a victim or losing our homes or jobs, just so they can justify their own existence. And when there are no naturally occurring threats they manufacture them. Oh yeah, I’m absolutely certain that many of these so-called incidents, such as mass shootings, are orchestrated and carried out by people within our government just to instill more fear into the minds of the people so that they keep asking for good ole Uncle Sam to step in and make them safe again.
Why is it that so many people freak out whenever there is a government shutdown? Hmm, have you ever asked yourself that? What is it that they fear if it isn’t the loss of some vital privilege or service that they depend upon? Me, I could care less if government were to sink into the Earth like the lost continent of Atlantis; it wouldn’t bother me one bit. In fact, if it happened I might go out into my front yard buck assed naked and dance a jig in celebration.
I don’t need government, and I damn sure don’t appreciate the fact that others are using it, and its coercive power, to tell me how I must live; while at the same time taking upwards of 40% of my earnings to enforce its policies and ensure that I obey its commands.
That’ to me, is the exact opposite of freedom – yet people still flock to the polls in droves; voting to satisfy their own addiction to the idea of government. And what do they vote for it isn’t the promises being made by these candidates to DO MORE THINGS for those who vote for them. Well I don’t want government to do anything for me. To take the lyrics of Charlie Daniels, “I ain’t asking nobody for nothing if I can’t get it on my own.” That’s freedom, that right there; to be totally and completely self-sufficient and self-reliant.
Eleanor Roosevelt was spot on when she said, “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”
Roosevelt’s fifth cousin, by marriage, Theodore once wrote, “If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs.” Now I’m not a huge fan of Teddy Roosevelt; at least not what he did while serving as president, but he sure as hell got that one right.
How many people in this country, whenever they face a personal crisis, (often of their own creation), seek government assistance or handouts until they can get back on their feet again. Often people become addicted to those handouts; refusing to seek out or accept work because it does not pay as well as living off the government dole.
We are told that we’re cruel and heartless because we expect people to work, to provide for their own needs. The Bible tells us, “…that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” I truly think that some people work harder avoiding work than they would if they would just find a job and do it to the best of their abilities. Yet tell these same people that they haven’t EARNED what they are being paid and they become mighty upset and hostile towards you.
You see, we have changed in America; we have become fat, lazy, compliant and addicted to others to provide for us the things it is our responsibility to provide for ourselves. Then, when someone talks about taking those services away they become angry and threatened by those saying these things. Yet the idea that we should be free; meaning free to make our own choices in life, while suffering the consequences of poor choices, is what made America such a great place.
If you are never forced to suffer the consequences of your mistakes; to learn from them, you will never grow and you will become dependent upon those who provide the safety net that ensure you never go without what others have worked for. So instead of forcing you to work to provide for your own needs you think it’s better that you just tax the hell out of others and then turn around and hand it out to those in need. Brilliant; until the number of those on the receiving end outnumber those who are having the fruit of their labors stolen from then. When that tipping point happens the entire charade falls apart and the system collapses. And when that happens government ALWAYS assumes total control of both production and distribution of all goods and services. Once that happens, to question government becomes akin to committing suicide; for if you bite the hand that feeds you, you might as well just kill yourself; for if you don’t, government will.
And that is the path that America is on now because people refuse to be free; because they rely upon government for far too much; because they cannot see that government, not the democrats or the Republicans, but government itself is their enemy. They think that if they could just get enough of ‘their’ people into office things would change for the better. Well how well has that strategy worked out for you so far?
Einstein once defined insanity as repeating the same thing over and over again, each time expecting different results. Well if that’s true, then America has gone insane, and it’s no wonder I often feel like I’m surrounded by imbeciles and nutcases. But nonetheless freedom is too precious a gift to just give up on simply because others don’t want it. So I’ll continue to be here, rattling your cage, hoping that someday you’ll wake out of your ignorance and apathy and join the cause which lead our Founders to resist the tyranny of King George III. They did not submit to tyranny; even though it was far less oppressive in 1776 than it is in 2019. If you consider yourself a true patriot, you should do no less.
March 31, 2019
~ The Author ~
Neal Ross, Student of history, politics, patriot and staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Send all comments to: bonsai@syix.com.
If you liked Neal’s latest column, maybe you’ll like his latest booklet: The Civil War: (The Truth You Have Not Been Told). Life continues to expand for this prolific writer and guardian of TRUE American history.