Freedom - what does it mean?

I fear we take it for granted here in the United States.  Why? You may be asking.  This page will contain my reasons why I fear our freedoms are being taken away.  Our society's increasing willingness to let the government and large corporations tell us what we can and can not do.

 

Imagine the day when...

...you lived a life of servant-hood to the King!  The royals told you what you could and could not do.  The laws were made to protect the connected.  You were forced into whatever profession your parents were in.  If you parent owned a farm, you grew up to work that farm.  If your father was a mason, you would grow up to be a mason.  If you were born into, yes I am going to say the word...   slavery,  you were also a slave.  In most cases, all people were slaves of some sort of master. 

That was the reality for most civilizations of the world.   The salt of the earth people were, in most countries, born into servant-hood to the ruling class.  The Kings, the Emperors, the tribal chiefs, and all the rulers of any continent on this world were all the same.  The people looked up to their rulers and in some cases idolized them as Gods.

People were also held to those belief systems by their rulers.  If you disrespected your King, you were beheaded, hung or sent to the dungeons.  If you stepped out of line, you were quickly put back in your place.  These are the facts of that era.

 

Then one day, a group of men stood up to a King and declared the causes which impel them to the seperation...

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.

Preamble to the US Declaration of Independence

 

 

Stone Engraving of the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence

 

The "Pursuit" of Happiness

That is absolutely what Freedom is really about?  Living your life as "You" see fit!  With all your own aspirations and addictions.  Your good and your bad traits in tow.  You alone have the choice of what you want to make of your life.  Ultimately, you have a choice to pursue happiness or wither in despair.  In our great country, no matter your race, you really do have that freedom of choice!!

 

The freedom to choose your friends!

The freedom to go for a walk or stay in bed.

The freedom to be a bum or get a job.

The freedom to work for someone else or start your own business.

The freedom to work at whatever profession you choose.

The freedom to believe in a cause and fight for it!  ... or not!

The freedom to own guns or not.

The freedom to own a car or ride a bike.

The freedom to eat healthy or not.

 

The list goes on! 

 

As long as your freedoms don't hinder, or infringe on, the rights of other's to their God given rights and freedoms, you are able to do whatever you would like to do with your life.

 

 

Oh, but wait, here comes the Government...