the price of liberty

The words “Give me liberty or give me death” once rang in the hearts of Americans, commemorating the price that their forbearers placed on liberty: their own life. Liberty was so valuable to them that an actually price could not describe it. They fought against all odds to establish a nation in which individual rights were protected, in which the government existed for them and not in which they existed for the government. They lived in an age of tyranny, and their sole desire was to take back their God-given inalienable rights which had been usurped by the throne.

Times have changed. Washington has been able to put a price on liberty: 7.4 trillion dollars. At least, that is the price they are willing to pay at the expense of our liberty. And the number is increasing daily. For those who cannot fathom the magnitude of this number, $7.4 trillion equates to half the GDP of this great country. If distributed evenly is comes out to $25,000 per person, man, woman and child. So the question is raised. Are you willing to sell your liberty for $25,000?

Here’s the catch: along with giving up your liberty, you also give up the $25,000. Instead of selling your liberty to get money, you sell your liberty to GIVE money. That is the dilemma in which our tyrannical democracy has placed us. Washington has trampled all over the will of the people and extended its authority where it doesn’t belong. The government is using us, sacrificing our liberty to satisfy the demands of lobbyists. No longer do we live in a society in which we must earn our money, but it can easily be looted by the government. The days of Robin Hood, of stealing from the rich to give to the poor, have ended. We have entered the days of stealing from the poor and industrious to support the incompetent; when mediocrity is celebrated and prosperity punished. Trust me, it won’t stop at $7.4 trillion, and it won’t end with financial groups and the auto industry. And what are you doing about it? Do you even care?

Many of us have heard, and were outraged, about a $700 billion bail-out, writing or calling our representatives. When the bill passed, however, the calls ended. Despite the fact that they acted not only against the will of the majority but also against the founding principles of this nation, we the people became complacent. Where was the outrage AFTER the bill had been passed? when Congress sent a blank check to the Secretary of the Treasury?

The price of getting our liberty for our founders was their life. The price of giving up our liberty for us is our apathy. Because of our lack of concern regarding the infringements of the government into our lives and our wallet, the liberty that was hard-earned and prized is slipping through our fingers, and shackles are being slipped onto our wrists. No longer do we live in an age in which one can rise from the shambles of poverty into the halls of prosperity on account of his mind. Washington is damning us. No longer do we live in an age in which one controls his own destiny. Government power and autonomy cannot coexist. So as Washington expands its financial authority our liberty diminishes.

What price do you put on liberty? What are you willing to pay? Do you stand with the patriots at the time of the War for Independence and value liberty as an inalienable right; that it would be better to die for freedom than to live in bondage? Or do you stand with the “patriots” of today, when paying higher taxes is a “duty” to help those in “need” so that government spending can be wasted on putting the economy on artificial life support? Where is the outrage, the same outrage that carried us through the Revolution against a tyrant?! The problem we the people face today is not much different than the problem this nation faced at its birth.

We must take a stand while we still have a chance! They may take away our money, but they cannot take away our voice! Rise up and be heard! Do not let your apathy be the price of your liberty!