(My Clovis News Journal column for March 22, 2013- with a headline more bizarrely assigned than usual.)
How much freedom do you have? How much freedom do you need?
You are free to vote for people to take money from your neighbors on your behalf.
You are free to vote to prevent your neighbors from using their property as they see fit.
You are free to support violent early morning home invasions in the name of protecting people from plant leaves and unprescribed chemicals. For their own good, and "for the children", of course.
You are free to travel where you want, as long as you pay for permission to own a vehicle, and pay for permission to drive it, and pay "taxes" when you buy your fuel, which then permits you to travel- as long as you drive below some arbitrary speed, fasten a restraint across yourself, and follow rules designed- not for safety- but to provide an opportunity to milk you for money. By going along with all this you are also said to be consenting to random acts of roadside theft and violence against your person and property by employees of The State.
And that's just if you travel in your own (?) vehicle. To travel by air, and increasingly by other forms of mass transportation, you must agree to be sexually violated and otherwise treated like a prisoner.
You are free to earn money, as long as you can prove you have government permission to have a job in America. Or, if you wish to operate your own business, as long as you pay multiple fees for permission and agree to be a "tax" collector and steal from your customers. Then you must follow reams of rules, controlling how you are permitted to operate your business, and what private property violations you are required to submit to.
You are free to watch entertainment as long as the subject matter isn't too offensive to some individuals.
You are free to eat whatever you want as long as someone hasn't declared your food choice to be too unhealthy for you. And as long as the person you purchase it from has jumped through all the hoops and barriers and agrees to steal the proper amount from you to send in as tribute to those who claim to rule.
You are free to marry, unless you seek government sanction for your union, and then you are subject to more fees and restrictions.
But, really, how much freedom do you need?
Actually, the more rules imposed, the freer you become. When you realize how much your freedom threatens those who wish to control you, the less you'll worry about complying with their demands.
How much freedom do you have? How much freedom do you need?
You are free to vote for people to take money from your neighbors on your behalf.
You are free to vote to prevent your neighbors from using their property as they see fit.
You are free to support violent early morning home invasions in the name of protecting people from plant leaves and unprescribed chemicals. For their own good, and "for the children", of course.
You are free to travel where you want, as long as you pay for permission to own a vehicle, and pay for permission to drive it, and pay "taxes" when you buy your fuel, which then permits you to travel- as long as you drive below some arbitrary speed, fasten a restraint across yourself, and follow rules designed- not for safety- but to provide an opportunity to milk you for money. By going along with all this you are also said to be consenting to random acts of roadside theft and violence against your person and property by employees of The State.
And that's just if you travel in your own (?) vehicle. To travel by air, and increasingly by other forms of mass transportation, you must agree to be sexually violated and otherwise treated like a prisoner.
You are free to earn money, as long as you can prove you have government permission to have a job in America. Or, if you wish to operate your own business, as long as you pay multiple fees for permission and agree to be a "tax" collector and steal from your customers. Then you must follow reams of rules, controlling how you are permitted to operate your business, and what private property violations you are required to submit to.
You are free to watch entertainment as long as the subject matter isn't too offensive to some individuals.
You are free to eat whatever you want as long as someone hasn't declared your food choice to be too unhealthy for you. And as long as the person you purchase it from has jumped through all the hoops and barriers and agrees to steal the proper amount from you to send in as tribute to those who claim to rule.
You are free to marry, unless you seek government sanction for your union, and then you are subject to more fees and restrictions.
But, really, how much freedom do you need?
Actually, the more rules imposed, the freer you become. When you realize how much your freedom threatens those who wish to control you, the less you'll worry about complying with their demands.
.
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