Tuesday, July 4th, 2006
CELEBRATINGTHEFOURTHOFJULY Last Friday I took a call on the air from someone who was
very upset with me because, in his words, "You don't celebrate the 4th of July."
Well ... perhaps it's time to set the record straight here. The fact is that I most certainly DO celebrate the 4th of
July. I revere this holiday. I know of no other symbol of freedom
and independence that stands out stronger than this day. The 4th celebrates not only freedom, but independence from
an oppressive government. For seven long years following July 4, 1776, an
unbelievably courageous and determined minority of colonists fought to achieve
our independence from England. That's right ... a minority. At no
time during our Revolutionary War did the majority of colonists support the
cause of independence. If CNN, ABC, The New York Times, and other agencies
had been around to do their polling back then we would undoubtedly have been
faced with a barrage of weekly poll results showing a lack of public support for
the war. Loyalists would be demanding an exit strategy. Newspapers
would be editorializing for negotiations and troop withdrawals. There
would be feature stories on the news every night about families left behind to
take care of the family farms while husbands and brothers were off fighting this
unwinnable war. Thank God we didn't have television during the
Revolutionary War. It certainly wouldn't have ended the way it did in
1883. But ... back to this independence thing. July 4th is
known as Independence Day. Independence from what? Independence from the
government of Great Britain, that's what. Now, in 2006, Americans are far more dependent on and
oppressed by the Imperial Federal Government of the United States than they ever
were by Great Britain. The level of taxation is higher, and the level of
government interference in our daily life exceeds anything the colonists ever
saw. In spite of all this, Americans will be waving flags, watching
parades, going on picnics, and gawking at fireworks today, all in celebration of
their love of freedom. Love of freedom, my left big toe. This isn't a
celebration of freedom, this is a celebration of hypocrites. So .. you love freedom, do you? You're out there
waving your flag and watching fireworks with the rest of the freedom lovers?
Do you mind very much taking the time off to handle a little quiz? Just go
through the following scenarios and answer a few questions: JUST HOW MUCH DO YOU
REALLY LOVE FREEDOM? Planning for your retirement. - I want my employer to provide me with a pension
plan.
- I want the government to take something out of
every one of my paychecks and then pay it back to me in monthly payments
after I reach retirement age.
- I'm perfectly willing to save some money toward
my retirement years out of each and every paycheck and I want my
employer and the government to butt out. If I fail to finance my
retirement years adequately I'll have nobody to blame but myself.
Desecrating the American Flag - I believe the Bill of Rights was written by men
to tell government what it can and cannot do. Even though I
strongly disapprove of anyone desecrating our Flag, I realize the First
Amendment was written to protect unpopular expressions, not ones that
everyone is going to agree with.
- I believe that our Flag is the symbol of our
country, and anyone who desecrates it ought to be punished harshly.
To that end I approve of a new Constitutional amendment, the first one
since prohibition that would tell us what we can and cannot do, instead
of the government.
Medical Care - My employer should provide me with a health
insurance plan covering me and my immediate family.
- The government should provide taxpayer funded
health care for everyone.
- I should be responsible for providing my own
health care and health insurance in a competitive medical
marketplace unhindered by government mandates and regulations.
Health Insurance - The government should tell health insurance
companies what they must and what they cannot cover in their policies.
- I wish to be free to negotiate with health
insurance companies in order to find the best price for my policy by
including matters I wish to insure against, and excluding health
matters, like drug and alcohol abuse, which are of no concern to me.
Having No Health Insurance - If I have no health insurance the government
should provide me emergency health care paid for by the taxpayers.
- If I have no health insurance and the taxpayers
are compelled to pay for any of my health care the taxpayers should be
reimbursed through the seizure and sale of all of my assets. I
have no claim on the property of others for the purpose of paying for my
medical needs.
Choosing a doctor - I'm perfectly willing to rely on private
accreditation organizations to tell me who is properly trained in the
delivery of medical services. After conferring with those
accreditation organizations, like the American Medical Association, I
want to be free to chose any person I want for any medical purpose I see
fit.
- I want the government to tell me who I can seek
medical services from.
Wages and Employment - I realize that in the free enterprise marketplace
I have something to sell just as to all other individuals and businesses
do. My product is my physical and intellectual labor. I
should be left absolutely free to negotiate a price for my physical and
intellectual labor with any prospective employer free of government
interference. The only role for the government in my relationship
with my employer would be to provide a means to enforce contracts
between us.
- I want the government to set a minimum wage below
which I would not be free to work. I also want the government to
set my working hours, how I am to be paid for overtime, family leave
options and my vacation periods,
I recognize that the most important task I shall
have as a human being will be to nurture and raise my child. With
that in mind: - I want the government to seize my money through
taxes and to use those taxes to set up a system of government schools to
which I shall be compelled to send my child. I will be free, if I
wish, to send my child to a private school, but the government will not
let me have any of my money back to pay for it.
- I want the government to back out of the picture
and allow me to accept the responsibility for the education of my child
free of government interference and mandates.
Knowing that the more despotic a government becomes
the more that government tries to control the dissemination of
information. I also know that most American rely on the broadcast
media for their news. Therefore: - I want the government to continue to license the
operation of all radio and television stations and to regulate their
conduct so that they don't broadcast against the common interest.
- I want the broadcast media in this country to
have the full First Amendment rights granted to the printed media.
I am a devoutly religious person and my religious
feelings include strongly felt opinions on what other people should and
should not do in their private lives. - I want the government to regulate the sexual
conduct between consenting adults so that said conduct will be in
keeping with my personal sense of what is right and what is wrong.
- I may be disgusted by what some people do to and
with each other in the privacy of their own homes, but I do not wish for
the government to prevent those perverts from doing whatever perverted
things they like to do to each other.
Even though I drink alcohol and smoke nicotine: - I want the government to make sure that nobody
uses any substance that I find personally offensive. Marijuana,
for instance.
- I do not believe that the government should be
involved in what people do, and that includes what people smoke, in
privacy of their own homes. I just don't want to have to pay for
it when they screw themselves up good.
You need some legal advice. - 1. You want the government to tell you who you
can go to for legal advice. If you go to someone for legal advice
who is not approved by the government, and that person charges you to
prepare a will or to draw up a lawsuit for you, you want the government
to punish that person with a heavy fine, or perhaps some jail time, even
though you freely entered into an agreement with him for that advice and
legal help.
- 2. You are willing to use your own common
sense in choosing someone to represent you before a court, either
someone who is recommended by a private accreditation agency such as the
American Bar Association, or someone who is otherwise known to you to be
informed and capable as to legal affairs, and you are willing to abide
by the choice you made.
You're going to have a child. You understand
that having a child will be physically, emotionally and financially
challenging. So ..... - You want the government to used money seized from
taxpayers to pay for child care for your child.
- You want the government to force your employer to
give you 12 weeks off from the job in order to care for your new child,
and you want your job to be waiting for you when you return.
- You know that you had the child, not the
taxpayers and not your employer, and you are willing to bear the
responsibility for raising that child without the government imposing
any cost, burden or duty on anyone else on your behalf.
You want to ride your motorcycle without a helmet. - You're willing to take full responsibility for
your decision, including the possibility that you might die if you crack
your head open and you don't have enough money to pay for the medical
care you'll need and there's no private charity willing to step up and
cover your costs because they consider your injuries to be essentially
self-inflicted.
- You want to be free to ride without a helmet, but
if you do happen to sustain a horrible injury you want the government to
force the taxpayers to be responsible for your health care.
|
I could make expand those questions to 10 pages or more,
but the point is made. I doubt many of you actually chose the response
that eliminated government interference and left you to be free to make your
choices and suffer the consequences. If you did, congratulations. If
not ... have fun waving your flag today. I love you anyway. |
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