Freedom and Personal Choice; Safety and Tyranny

 

“This is not about Freedom or personal choice.”

As usual, I was a dollar short and a day late. Yesterday I posted a picture of Anthony Fauci as the general example of big government tyranny. Then within minutes, the nation was treated to probably the worst presidential speech on record. It was one that left little doubt that our individual judgment and rights were completely subject to the whim of the state.

“This is not about Freedom or personal choice”

Of course, it’s not. At least to you.

But Freedom and personal choice are important to any people who aspire to be citizens instead of subjects. And Truth. Truth also matters. And it is becoming increasingly evident to more and more that there is an elite class of politicos running things right now who never intend to be truthful unless forced to at the last minute.

“This is not about Freedom or personal choice”

There are plenty of deliberate lies to detail and correct just in the short 20 or so minutes in which Biden spoke Thursday evening, just as there are about the Afghanistan fiasco, the inhumane, government-caused crisis on our border, the out-right attack on election integrity, a spending and debt crisis and a few more that threaten all of us. But the biggest lie has to do with tearing down the last wall between us and full-out authoritarian rule.

It is all about Freedom and personal choice. I have said before that our system was designed to continually dance that delicate balancing act between ensuring individual rights and liberty while allowing the necessary evil of government just enough power to protect those rights and a just social order. There are plenty of hair-splitters and chin rubbers who can challenge on different slight aspects of that clumsy explanation but that is the core of it.

Government exists for that Freedom and those personal choices. It does not exist to make medical decisions for individuals. There are doctors who can help with that, doctors of our own choosing.

The most used and successful siren promise of tyrants is safety. That is a consistent lesson of history from the first recorded word till now. Of course, it is a promise that is rarely kept. And when it is, only briefly.

Man was intended to live a full and free life. But he was also intended to be redeemed and saved. The vehicles for all of those have been provided for him. But they require his acceptance. And it also requires his action to maintain them.

Yes, it is not supposed to be easy. It is a daily struggle, a daily challenge. But challenges are when we reach our highest achievements, personally and as groups. The secular world will always be full of threats, dangers, and evils.

Those who promise mere safety are not just lying to you but demanding you stay at the lowest level of personal achievement. They insult both your intelligence and your courage.

This administration has already clearly shown its deep concern for the lives of American citizens. I am sure they would like to distract from that. It is becoming more than apparent that hundreds if not over a thousand Americans were left to fend for themselves in an Afghanistan handed over to medieval terrorists. Just by checking records, there are probably over 30,000 SIV applicants still there and being slaughtered as we speak. Even us with short memories can recall the oh-so sincere pledge to get all Americans and SIVs out. I wonder how safe the majority of those are feeling now. Those who still live.

In July, as I recall, the administration made clear they would not use mandates for vaccines or masks.

These people never intend to tell the truth, ever.

During the president’s dictatorial remarks, he was careful to use “requirements” instead of “mandates”. There must have been a search for terms among the Marxist staffers which they were sure would fool a gullible public one more time.

But the president was concerned that some governors were dismissing vaccines and masks since they are not quite Stalinist enough to declare mandates. It was presented as if these governors were against both simply because they were democratic (see the small “d”) enough to leave it to individuals. In fact, those governors have made it clear that individuals are free to do either. But this president says he is determined to “get them out of the way”. You had better realize that he was not just talking about a few governors. Any citizens who takes their rights seriously against government fiat will always be “in the way”.

As far as that 80 million or so unvaccinated that the president is so concerned about killing the rest of civilization, I wonder how many of them might have a natural immunity already. It is becoming clear in research and actually data from domestic sources (like John Hopkins) and several foreign that natural immunity is far superior to the vaccinated immunity. There seems to be little concern about that from the administration.

The claim that issues with the new vaccines are “settled” is a straight lie. There are both positive and negative issues to consider. To admit that is hardly to be against these vaccines or vaccines in general. It is to admit the truth.

But still the real issue is that this was an unconstitutional speech that blatantly assumes presidential power that does not and should not exist.

These remarks may seem a little disjointed and irregular since I have just had the chance to review the speech a few minutes ago. Anger and disgust make for poor expression. A good stiff drink – or two- would probably help if it were not so early in the day.

I see this as a defining moment for us. This is hardly some school requirement for enrollment with a proven vaccine. This is a decree from “on high” for the whole society with little to justify the mass need for it. In the past, those who seemingly don’t mind their authoritarianism taken a mere spoonful at a time have swallowed accordingly. Now we are nearing the bottom of the bottle and are asked to take a full gulp. How we take this will help define our nature as a people. There have been decades upon decades when we refused to accept such intrusive dictates. It offended our very nature.

Now we will see if our generation has much of that nature left. If we do, a wide-scale “resistance” and refusal should result. It should not matter what political party one has followed in the past, how one feels about these vaccines or vaccines in general, what you believe about masks or how you part your hair. It is about one’s natural instincts about authoritarianism, liberty, and the role of both government and the individual.

We were founded by an imperfect people who had a vision of what those roles could and should be. Wrapped in that vision was a realization that for man to reach his full potential he should believe there are things more important to his true existence than mere safety. They knew that the vision plotted a difficult and even dangerous course. But they also believed in the ability of free men to demonstrate firm resolve and iron will when necessary and to master their own destiny.

It is a time to decide to what and who we will willingly bend a knee and bow a head. It should never be government.

Ok, I’m decided that it really ain’t that early in the day after all!

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There are 11 comments.

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  1. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Ole Summers: It is a time to decide to what and who we will willingly bent a knee and bow a head. It should never be government.

    Excellent. Since it is fresh in my head, I am reminded of Herbert Hoover in The Challenge to Liberty (1935):

    The great question before the American people is not whether these dislocations and abuses can be mastered and these new and powerful forces organized and directed to human welfare, but whether they can be organized by free men. We have to determine now whether, under the pressures of the hour, we must cripple or abandon the heritage of liberty for some new philosophy which must mark the passing of freedom. – Pages 1-2

    Some bonus Hoover…does any of this sound familiar?:

    Revolution in government is a hard term to define. …

    An analysis of these foreign revolutions away from democracy reveals different sequences and methods in different countries, but they have a common pattern varying only in degree of violence of action. Their mild form is the breaking down of confidence in existing institutions by defamation, their violent form is overthrow of these institutions through seizure or suppression. They vary between the initial winning of elections through promises not intended of fulfillment, and the direct “postponement” or abolition of elections. They gently secure the amiable surrender of the independence of legislative bodies by the delegation of their powers for “emergency’s sake: or else these bodies are harshly reorganized or adjourned. They encroach by evasion and subtle intimidation of judicial independence or they suppress the courts. In combating criticism their methods range between manipulation of the agencies of public information and the suppression of free speech and free press. These revolutions often enough continue old governmental forms for appearance’s sake, but they all move forward to destruction of Liberty by the growth of disguised or open dictatorship. …

    Thus the scene of the tragedy of Liberty the world over must be suffering and discontent among the people. … Then follows consolidation of authority through powerful propaganda in the pay of the state to transform the mentality of the people. Resentment of criticism, denunciation of all oppositions, moral terrorization, all follow in sequence. The last scene is the suppression of freedom. Liberty dies of the water from her own well – free speech – poisoned by untruth.

    In the Epilogue the dreams of those who saw Utopia are shattered and the people find they are marching backward toward the Middle Ages – as regimented men. – Pages 15-17

    The regimentation…or attempt to do so…is clearly upon us.

    • #1
  2. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    Ole Summers: It is a time to decide to what and who we will willingly bent a knee and bow a head. It should never be government.

    This!

    • #2
  3. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    It is about people deciding they know best, when there is no way for them to know best.

    We have never, ever, ever, locked down well people in the history of Mankind. Never. This tactic did not work. Mask mandates did not work. 

    And we are trying to vaccinate people against a virus that is never going to be a one and done like smallpox. Never. 

    We have never been able to stop the flu or colds. Or SARS. That is reality. 

    This is about limiting liberty and freedom. 

    Great essay. 

    • #3
  4. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    Thank you, @olesummers. That is one of the most accurate and powerful summaries of the current situation I have seen.

    • #4
  5. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Ole Summers: Biden: “This is not about Freedom or personal choice”

    The Hell it’s not, Mr. Faux-President.  This is about telling you, a geriatric, senile, derelict of a human-being wannabe, to back the eff off and let people make their own choices . . .

    • #5
  6. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    My grandparents came from Greece. They have a saying there: “It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees.” Greece also has a holiday called “Oxi” Day. “Oxi (pronounced AW-chee), means no. It celebrates the day Mussolini told the Greeks to surrender to his Italian empire. The Greeks told him no – and then chased the Italians out of a quarter of Albania. It took the Germans to occupy Greece, but even then the Greeks fought on for four years.

    To Mr. Biden and his vaccine mandate, his mask mandate, and his testing mandate: Oxi! Pound sand. I will remain true to my Greek ancestors and not submit.

    • #6
  7. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    Japan raised the alarm after finding contaminants in vials of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines, pulling over 2 million doses from its market.

    https://castbox.fm/vb/422419829

    • #7
  8. HankRhody Freelance Philosopher Contributor
    HankRhody Freelance Philosopher
    @HankRhody

    Ole Summers:

    “This is not about Freedom or personal choice”

    Of course, it’s not. At least to you.

    Imagine you’re being mugged. The man taking your wallet and pointing the gun at you says “I’m not the bad guy here.” No. You don’t get to decide that. The fact that you’re the one forcing me to give up my money means that you no longer have the moral authority to declare yourself not to be a bad person. 

    Mr. President you don’t get the power to say what is or is not about Freedom. 

    • #8
  9. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    I’m not sure what effect the following will have, but it’s a start:

    https://www.westernjournal.com/great-american-walkout-begins-bidens-overreaching-move-focus-mass-event/

    I wonder if Biden is going to mandate everyone on Medicare and Medicaid get vaccinated or lose coverage . . .

    • #9
  10. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    The easiest way for everyone, vaccinated or unvaccinated, to resist Biden’s mandate is to refuse to reveal their vaccination status to their employer or the government. It’s none of their business anyway.

    • #10
  11. carcat74 Member
    carcat74
    @carcat74

    ALSO—“An armed man is a citizen; an unarmed man is a subject. “

    • #11
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