The essential nature of the United States of America – the core feature of its organization, structure, and the singular quality which sets it apart from all other nations – is freedom.
The freedom of the individual citizen to live his or her life as they please, and to be secure and safe in their person and their property from violence, theft, or coercion (by other individuals, groups, or government), is the defining characteristic of America.
Eroding Freedom
That essential freedom has been eroding away, little by little, for a very long time.
Many Americans, including politicians at all levels of government, seem to have forgotten (or never really understood) the importance of this key to our existence.
It seems that few take the time to think deeply about the application and exercise of freedom when considering complex issues and problems to be solved. People and representatives in government are more concerned with implementing quick fixes and serving their own selfish interests than in taking the time to think through the long-term effects and implications of a given action or proposal. This is why legislation often causes unforeseen and far-reaching negative consequences which then stimulate even more short-sighted and ill-conceived legislation. And the cycle repeats.
Take the current problem of inflation, for example. Every aspect of the inflationary crisis can be traced back to government interference and intervention in the economy. From deficit spending; to manipulating interest rates; to subsidizing education, farming, utilities, banking and finance, home mortgages, etc.; to social welfare programs, international aid – on and on the list goes. Every instance of government (as an expression of the will of the people) tipping the scale in favor of one thing over another – no matter how well-intended – has led us to the crisis we face today.
How is this germane to the subject of freedom? In every way, through and through.
Government Intervention = Stolen Freedom
Every time the government steps in to solve a problem, it violates the freedom of individual citizens in some way. In other words, “the public good” always comes at the expense of individuals’ life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
When the government confiscates the fruits of our labor (earnings) under penalty of law (taxation) to fund the support and welfare of other people, businesses, or other nations, our freedom and ability to live and pursue our own interests and livelihoods are diminished.
When we are forbidden to speak our mind, express our views and opinions, and associate or do business (or not) with people or groups of our own choosing, we have lost essential freedom.
When we are coerced against our will to do or not do certain things, or to use or not use particular products or services,, or to do or not do business with certain people or groups, then our freedom has been diminished.
Happiness is not a Right
Much of our problem as a society is that we have conflated the concept of freedom with happiness. People have come to believe that if they do not feel happy (whatever that means), then they are not truly free – that their freedom to be happy (perceived as an essential right) has somehow been violated or denied. They also tend to think that those whom they perceive to be more happy or successful are more free or privileged than those who are less happy or successful.
This is an abuse and misuse of the term and concept of freedom. The freedom enshrined in the Constitution is the freedom to pursue happiness, which does not equate to the right to possess it. It is the exercise of our inalienable right to life and liberty which empowers and enables us to pursue our own happiness. Nothing in the Constitution suggests or guarantees a right to the achievement or fulfillment of happiness. It only protects the right to create our own.
Freedom to Win or Lose
The freedom to pursue (or not) is also the freedom to fail in that pursuit. If one chooses not to actively create their own happiness (whatever that may be) and rather accept or depend on whatever nature or the charity of others may provide, then they must – in a free society – accept the consequences of that choice. Other free citizens have no obligation, legal or moral, to support those who choose not to support themselves.
Likewise, those who engage in the pursuit of their own happiness, but fail to achieve it, must be free both to endure the consequences and to try again. There is no guarantee of success nor mitigation of failure beyond freely given charity.
But this is not the attitude or belief of many Americans today. Many believe that they have an essential right to be whole and happy, that and society owes it to them and must do whatever is necessary – even so far as violating the rights, freedom, and happiness of others – to ensure it.
This is one reason why our nation is now tearing itself apart.