...Liberty...

        We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,--That when any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

     The Declaration of Independence states that all men have a right to Liberty.


     Noah Webster defined liberty as:

1. Freedom from restraint, in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or mind.  The body is at liberty, when not confined; the will or mind is at liberty, when not checked or controlled. A man enjoys liberty when no physical force operates to restrain his actions or volitions.

     Of course, anyone with the common sense of a cue ball knows that such liberties lead to anarchy, hence the establishment of government.

     Webster goes on to elaborate on liberty in the civil sense:

     Civil liberty is the liberty of men in a society, or natural liberty, so far only abridged and restrained, as is necessary and expedient for the safety and interest of the society, state, or nation. A restraint of natural liberty not necessary or expedient for the public, is tyranny or oppression.  Civil liberty is an exemption from the arbitrary will of others, which exemption is secured by established laws, which restrain every man from injuring or controlling another.  Hence the restraints of law are essential to civil liberty.

     So, according to Noah Webster, laws are necessary to protect us against the oppression or injury from others.  Hence laws against murder, theft, copyright infringement, slander and libel, etc.

     Now, we have to honestly ask ourselves if our government is securing our liberty by passing laws only necessary or expedient for the safety and interest of society? I submit to you that the answer is no.

     The United States Congress passed a horrific boondoggle of a law in December of 2010.  It is commonly referred to as Obamacare.  This monstrosity of a law demands that citizens of the United States purchase health insurance, under penalty of fines and as originally written, imprisonment.  Now, is the purchase of insurance necessary and expedient for the safety of the public?  No, the public in America has gotten along just fine without the mandate to purchase medical insurance  since 1776.  This restraint on the liberty of Americans to utilize their money as they see fit is not necessary and expedient, and therefore defined by Noah Webster as tyranny.  

     The United States Congress has also passed legislation designed to ban the sell and manufacture of incandescent light bulbs.  Is such law necessary and expedient for the safety and interest of society?  No.  American homes have been illuminated just fine for over a hundred years by the incandescent bulb. In fact, the mandated bulbs the government is requiring to replace incandescent bulbs contain mercury, which is highly poisonous.  Is is necessary and expedient for the safety and interest of the public to mandate by law exposure to toxins?  Absolutely not.  Tyranny.

     These two examples are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the government not only failing to secure our right to liberty, but in many, many cases directly assaulting it.

     America, it is time to wake from your slumber before your liberty is something that has gone the way of the woolly mammoth.