Op-ed: Giving in to government
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"Government is not reason. It is not eloquence -- it is a force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." -- George Washington
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The uniqueness of our great country lies in the minds and hearts of our founders. Writings and documents of the time tell of their yearning for freedom from authoritarian governments. These men knew well the deadly fire capable by government and prescribed cures for the insidious disease of oppression.
They announced their intentions of escaping autocratic rule with a Declaration of Independence, codified a Constitution and then fought a war creating the greatest nation on earth.
They gave us a constitutional republic with a mandate that government must protect our natural rights; not restrict or violate them. This new government would serve people, not rule as their master. The conceivers delineated and defined the limited power afforded government and ceded all other power to the people. The Bill of Rights meant no government entity could abridge the sovereign rights of citizens.
It is the natural progression of government to find answers to problems that don't exist, and for concocting what they call existential threats.
Politicians and their assigned bureaucrats feed on fear and uncertainty. Naturally, when the mainstream media transmit a sense of panic and hysteria, knee-jerk reactions follow. When power-hungry legislators sense fear in the air, the first casualty is the Constitution, and, with that, personal liberty.
The present-day crisis is typical of those we lived through in other trying times, and the creed of the tyrant is never let a crisis go to waste.
Tyrants propose answers to every problem and promise our safety if we just give up a few more freedoms. Since government always overreacts to every difficulty, we must continually fight to maintain our independence. Every new crisis brings more government control, less freedom and innocent victims crushed by armies of out-of-control governmental agencies and opportunistic, tyrannical politicians.
Countless Americans suffer needlessly from severe or chronic pain. The war on drugs is more of a war on the innocent and disabled. Doctors can no longer prescribe effective pain medication, or simply will not because of the chilling affect by dictatorial government threats. Politicians and bureaucrats essentially tell Americans how much pain they must endure.
The war on tobacco and the latest war on alcohol result in eighteen, nineteen, and twenty-year-old adult citizens unable to buy these products. Government has no problem sending these young men to fight and die for our rights. Shamefully, however, their country repays these heroes by forbidding their simple purchase of a beer or a pack of smokes.
Liberty means freedom to make choices. That means a right to make good choices and bad choices. When government makes those decisions for you, that is tyranny.
Despotic government was on full display in the infamous national war on alcohol, turning ordinary Americans into criminals and igniting a nation into a frenzy of disobedience and violence.
The war on terror is more of an attack on the rights of American citizens. As with most rights, what government takes we never regain. The wide net cast by government invariably catches all fish in the sea; not just sharks.
Federal, state and local politicians wage their version of war on crime, principally by banning lawful Americans from their constitutional right to own firearms. Liberals repeatedly advocate for criminals while maintaining Americans have no right to self-defense.
We allow politically-appointed bureaucrats to position government between us and our doctors, thus ceding complete control of the medical profession and our healthcare to a centralized government.
Spiritual leaders leave unchallenged the leftist idea that expressing one's religious views is hate speech, and further allow authorities to issue worshipers citations for listening to sermons while parked in church parking lots.
Without a whimper, we cower in fear of exercising our constitutional rights and accept house arrest meekly with weak-kneed obedience.
Obviously, the question is not whether we should take this latest virus threat seriously, but rather should we, as free American citizens, turn our lives over to wannabe tyrants and allow them to pick winners and losers.
Sadly, especially in Democrat-controlled areas of our nation, our own governments pose greater risks to our liberty than any threat in the world. Unfortunately, an increasing number of Americans have fallen out of love with liberty and made the decision to cede their rights to an omnipotent and totally out of control government. Every little "war" legislators fight, American citizens usually are in the crosshairs.
When calm reappears through the threats and fog of confusion, freedom must shine through. We must cease our acquiescence to tyranny. What does liberty mean to you?
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Jim Mullen is a politically conservative Parkersburg writer and blogger and is a member of the WV Constitution Advocates.