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FREE
AS A BIRD The Fourth of July is a celebration of the Declaration of Independence and the celebration of our hard-won freedom. Freedom is a prerequisite for free markets. Free markets are in turn the hallmarks of capitalism. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the United States has managed markets. Since this editorial is about freedom rather than markets, we will only touch briefly on managed markets. Our markets are priced and traded in dollars. When dollars could be readily exchanged at the Treasury for either gold or silver our government had a limited ability to manipulate the value of the dollar. Wilson began the process of allowing government to manipulate the value of the dollar with the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. FDR expanded the power of government by dictating how many dollars could be exchanged for an ounce of gold. After Nixon was forced to abandon the gold standard because of socialistic schemes, government was free to manipulate the value of the dollar almost at will, subject only to what an uninformed public and relatively disinterested markets would accept. The value of money is the foundation of all markets. Manipulating the value of money becomes the foundation for manipulating any market. Manipulation carries the risk of encountering the law of unintended consequences. When the foolish do not suffer the consequences of their foolishness, they never acquire the wisdom needed to avoid their folly. Socialism subsidizes failure and the under-productive while fostering dependency. Whenever you subsidize anything, you get more of it. Dependency is a trap on a road that inevitably leads to serfdom. Socialism is therefore not compatible with either freedom or capitalism. Socialism traps not only the dependent beneficiaries, but also the arrogant who are foolish enough or ambitious enough to believe nobody else can get along without their help. These are the power seekers, the hypocritical egalitarians, the media, and the educated elite that demand tenure in order to keep their jobs. The very essence of socialism is tyranny. Socialism transfers the right of its victims to make their own decisions to government. Government mandates socialism because free people will always opt out as soon as they realize there is no such thing as a free lunch. Those who believe the United States is a free country are confusing the right to vote for the candidate of their choice with the right to make choices about how they live their lives. Patriots didn't fight for the right to vote for Washington instead of Adams. The freedom that inspired countless Americans to risk or sacrifice their lives was the right to make our own choices about everything that touches our individual lives. The Code of Federal Regulations dates back to 1936. Until you have visited a library to actually see the shelves lined by these volumes and spent some time studying the US Code and the CFR, you are not competently qualified to debate the issue of whether the United States is still free. Some may argue that the freedom of individuals must be limited to increase the safety and security of the many. Some might argue that individual freedom should be limited in the interest of living together in peace or greater harmony. Limiting freedom to any degree or in any way only risks or indeed, invites even more and even greater limits on any remaining freedom. The risks are analogous to experimenting with addictive drugs. For a time, you may get away with it, but if you keep going back for more, sooner or later you are going to realize that you have been hooked. In a way, it's like sleeping around. If you take precautions, for a time you might get away with it and it may even seem like fun, but sooner or later the odds will catch up with you. The lucky (unlucky) ones get pregnant; some will get divorced, and some will get Aids; but everybody has gotten screwed. Regardless of what you may think or believe, those who cherish freedom are not going to trust anyone to limit their freedom, and sooner or later, freedom-lovers are going to resist. Those who believe government can or should be trusted to limit freedom should ponder this: Among the few choices that remain to us as individuals, every American has so far been able to choose their own career path, where they want to live, and when they want to relocate or change jobs. In a "free" country, surely these would be among the rights described by the Declaration of Independence as being unalienable. Incredibly, Congress is holding serious discussions to empower government to require two years of service from every young American. This is involuntary servitude regardless of the fact that Congress intends to pay a salary for the required service. The salary merely disguises the fact that this is slavery, no matter how anybody tries to obfuscate it. Don’t fall into the trap of equating the right to vote as being the equivalent of being free. A pure Democracy is the ultimate in the right to vote. But pure democracies reject freedom and dictate choices to the individual. Instead of the tyranny of a dictator, pure democracies substitute the tyranny of the majority. The right to vote for the candidate of your choice, although important, is only a very small part of actually being free. Those that believe we are living in a free country have forgotten, or more likely never learned what it means to actually be free. Today's Americans live in a cage. Unlike the Soviet Union with its Iron Curtain and Berlin Wall, the door to our cage is still open, but the cage itself grows smaller with each passing day. If not wearing a seat belt is a crime, is it possible that your cage could become a cell? FDR was wrong; what Americans need to fear is the government socialism brought to America. Anyone who doubts this is volunteering to be the next canary in the mine.
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