America: State Of Diminished Liberty

From a grand and picturesque position in the middle of New York harbor, Lady Liberty has been both a reminder of the gratitude of the nation of France for our very existence and a welcome center for the wretched of the world seeking that which many of us have long since taken for granted; liberty. To be certain, our own negligence has been partly responsible for the weeds and other overgrowth that have sullied our beautiful landscape, but the demands of recent immigrants that their new home not merely welcome them but acquiesce to their preferences has been quite damaging, as well.

As the accompanying picture illustrates so eloquently, Lady Liberty may as well be shrunk in size and placed on a graffiti-ridden platform in some small town that has long ago surrendered its claim on Americana. So eager are our elected officials to placate the whims of new arrivals - in a misguided attempt at appearing to be accepting - that they have sacrificed our national soul and rendered us insignificant. If France demanded their statue be returned, I would fully understand.

Lest I ramble too long and give the impression that this post is about immigration, let me say clearly that it is not. It is more about the assault on free men and women by the leaders we elect through the legislative process. Since the Great Depression - when FDR usurped our constitution in most blatant fashion - the liberal agenda has been marching inexorably forward, albeit in small steps. Those steps remain measured only because of the vigilance of conservatives in high places and the ordinary American who is inclined to remain awake and alert. Without either, the pace of liberal "progress" would become lurching and bounding, causing an audible rumble in the ground.

Many who have been engaged in politics through the past decade have been aware of the likes of John Edwards declaring that there are "two Americas". Anyone who has been even peripherally conscious for the past forty years is cognizant of the constant complaints of liberals over alleged inequalities and their incessant desires to correct them. But inequities cannot be corrected by legislation; such things are inherent to Man. All men are created equal, yes, but their courses in life ensure that outcomes will be different.

I maintain that liberals - or statists - endeavor to erase the choices afforded Man in favor of the guaranteed destination decided by the State. While some would welcome the lifting of the burden of decision, it is nonetheless the stuff of tyranny and that which our Founders warned about. It is also the staple of the liberal case for compassion and levelling the playing field, for a counter to fairness is at once sneered upon as uncaring, and a difficult position to defend to the minds already seized by the statist machine.

Unless and until people begin to remember the genesis of the American experiment I fear that Liberty will suffer a much worse fate than relegation to a lesser neighborhood. Free stuff is always an enticement too difficult for the masses to refuse. Getting them to understand that it is never free is tougher still, but it must be impressed upon them before it is too late. Otherwise the greatness of the United States of America may soon be nothing more than some distant future archeologist's find in a dig of our ruins.

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