Some want their freedom, some fear it

By JR Dieckmann

The conflict between liberals and conservatives in America is an ideological one. When our Founders came to this continent, they created a country where all men could live free and unimpaired by an all-powerful government. But living free also requires every adult to accept personal responsibility for his or her own lives and well-being.

This is where conservatives and liberal part company. Conservatives still believe in those original and constitutional values that are unique to this country. They are what make America exceptional. Conservatives are willing to accept the responsibility of running their own lives without depending on government bureaucracy for their care and assistance. This is an essential part of living life as a free person.

It has been said that conservatives just want to return our country to the days gone by. There is no interest among conservatives to return to an earlier age. Conservatives only want the politics of the country where ideals and values have been degraded and perverted by the left to be restored to what they were before the progressive decline — to preserve the principals and values that America was founded and built on.

Society always progresses forward in keeping with our science and technology, but social progress must be guided and tempered by the moral and spiritual values that established this great country. Just as important, it must retain the spirit of freedom and liberty that made America grow into the most industrious and powerful nation on the face of the planet. A status that has been rapidly declining over the past couple of decades thanks to the influence of global socialists and Fair Trade agreements.

There is, however, a faction of our society that refuses to accept their own personal responsibility for their lives and seems to need a custodian to take care of them, make decisions for them, guide them through life, and protect them from themselves. They choose to surrender their freedom for security.

These people generally vote Democrat and identify as liberals — a term that means the complete opposite of what these people represent today. "Liberal," derived from "liberty," used to mean freedom from the oppression of government rules and regulations. Now it has morphed into dependence on government control and regulations applied to all citizens — more accurately known as socialism.

The people we refer to as "liberals" are not liberal at all anymore. They are socialists and communists. They prefer to go by the title of "Progressives" now, but the progress they have in mind is not intellectual, scientific or technological, it is progress towards big government socialism and the destruction of the founding principals and values of our country, which include the obliteration, and transformation of our Constitution — the very backbone of freedom in America.

These people don't want the freedoms guaranteed to us by the Founders. They wouldn't know what to do with their freedom or how to use it. They want to be taken care of like children. They don't want to have to think for themselves about how they are going to pay their bills or provide for their families. The just want to know that everything will be provided for them as long as they do as they are told and continue to be obedient to their masters. In essence, they want to be slaves to their owner, which in today's America is the U.S. government.

The statists think we all have the minds of children, that we need someone to take care of us, that they know better than us, and how better to spend our money. They must think that we are all just like the liberals that they care about so much. Trouble is, the Constitution was crafted to protect us from people like that.

I suppose it is perfectly natural that in a society that you will have those who can appreciate freedom and liberty, and those who cannot. It is really a difference in values and priorities — and to some extent, abilities — that separates the two sides. While most of us relish freedom and liberty, some fear it as though staring into an abyss from the edge of a cliff.

It is not a question of intelligence. It is not a question of good versus evil. It just comes down to personal priorities, philosophy, and ambition. You cannot educate a liberal out of their values and priorities — that is something they will have to do for themselves. In addition, they will need to have the will and the courage to accept personal responsibility for their own lives. At the same time, they feel that it is society's responsibility to care for those less advantaged through government assistance rather than private charity.

This is important for us to understand if we are to win the battle for the survival of our people and country. We all know that the path of socialism that our country is currently on is unsustainable. That means that eventually, that segment of the population that has been depending on government to take care of them will be left out in the cold.

Those who have made a practice of depending on their own initiative and inspiration to manage their own lives will survive — they will know what to do when the government can no longer be depended upon to be their guide and provide for them.

Our country is now at a crossroads. Either we will sink further and further into socialism resulting in the collapse of the nation, or we can reverse course and force those who depend too much on government to start accepting responsibility for their own lives. This is only achievable in Congress with serious cuts in domestic spending over the next few years. If we do that then the country will survive and get back on track to American prosperity.

Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. For Americans to be self-dependent, they will need jobs and a strong economy. The only way we are going to be able to provide that is to cut back on government regulations of business and industry, stop unions from dictating policy to employers, and bring back those jobs that have been outsourced to China and the rest of the world.

Employers have the God given right to set wages and conditions for employment. It should be the role of unions to provide the workers to fill those jobs, not to tell employers how to manage their business and what benefits to provide. The union business model needs to change so as to work with employers instead of against them.

American workers today now have a fair deal with their employer — guaranteed by law. If they don't like the deal, they are free to find another job. When union demands drive employers out of business, union workers lose their jobs. It makes no sense at all. Union strikes called by self-serving union bosses must be banned by law if there is to be union reform and economic recovery.

Until those changes are made in union policy, there will be few new jobs created for their members. Union demands have made American manufacturing unaffordable. The decline in union jobs in America is proportional to the rise in outsourcing. If we want those jobs returned to America, then they will have to be made affordable both to employers and to consumers.

Today we have a choice that will determine the future of our nation. We can continue into this pit of destructive and unsustainable socialism, or we can return to the American dream of freedom and prosperity. The choice is now in the hands of the current legislature in Washington and ultimately in the hands of the American people in 2012. Let's hope Congress and the American people are smart enough to make the right choices.

© JR Dieckmann