California Conservative

It’s the Fourth of July!

Today, two people I enjoy reading have written very different pieces. I just realized that their subjects intersect perfectly. This intersection, in a nutshell, is that we have chipped away at our freedoms by trying, in excess, to be fair. In one hand we have those that aspire to bring political correctness to the fore, without regard for everyone’s freedom. And, in the other hand there are those that have made a mockery of protecting others and instituting a Nanny State that is surely causing Benjamin “Kid Gloves” Harrison to spin faster than if he were in a salad spinner! When ya slap both hands together they end up being shackled - we still have the key, you know.

It’s true that many situations can be misconstrued. Often times those that are hypersensitive seek errors in ones ways before they truly grasp any situation. And, it is our current attempt to make things even that so many have taken fair to an unfair level. Political Correctness has placed a major shackle on one hand in such a way that personal expression has been eroded. And, please, don’t bring up burning the flag as expression, that is a tired position and not expression but destruction laced with hatred. I’m referring to compliments and kindness, like kudos for the choices made in a career goal or even holding the door open for another. Today, while people that we elect continue to strip away what freedom truly is in the pursuit of fairness, we get inequality.

We also have a Nanny State that is getting more unbelievably out of control. How is it that protecting others from harm has become so restrictive? How can freedom for all allow those in high places to shackle the other hand without reproach?! As Jonathan Hoenig writes today in Smartmoney.com:

As we’ve pointed out in the past, free countries are always the most prosperous countries. From the former Soviet Union to still-communist China, every inch a society takes towards free-market capitalism results in unheralded prosperity and improved quality of life.

The Fourth of July, or Independence Day, is now appreciated primarily for fireworks and barbeque. Yet more than any other celebration, Independence Day is the quintessential American holiday because it clearly enunciates liberty and individual rights as the basic premises on which this country was founded. The Declaration of Independence, presented on July 4, 1776, put forth that all men are endowed with the rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In America, man functions as an independent entity, free to live his own life independent of the church, government or so-called “public good.”

For many years, this country honored and preserved those principles. Yet, slowly, we’ve been steered away from the rugged individualism towards a collectivist free-for-all in which individual rights are routinely compromised, challenged, or tossed out the window altogether.

This country was FOUNDED on the principles of Godliness, God’s love and respect for us all, and His being the example we must all follow. If we follow His example, and His only Son’s examples, fair is but a given.

We are being shackled because we cannot see beyond the trees. These are the trees sown by those that have no love of God and this country’s principles. The trees are getting thicker out there, and so many have decided the forest is the trees - and visa versa. It’s truly shameful that this translates into a life without happiness, full of darkness and dread, where around every bark-strewn giant something evil lies in wait.

On this Fourth of July, our country’s 230th Birthday, I choose light. Well, light with a few alders, birches, Bushes (41 and 43), and a Mount McKinley or two for color and a break in the horizon! ;)

Cross-posted at Fix4RSO.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 4th, 2006 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Capitalism, Patriotism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.