The Cost of Freedom

We all know the often repeated phrase, "Freedom is not free" yet we ignore the reality of the price we must pay to sustain it. If you are not willing to defend your freedom with your life, you really do not deserve to have it.

I have been writing the Fix America blog since 2008. In that time I have covered many subjects that I felt were relevant to a majority of Americans. I have leaned heavily on the principles of liberty as a birthright as opposed to something that is granted by government. In fact, the very nature of our liberty is dependent on those willing to sacrifice all on order to have it.

The foundations for American liberty can be found in the words of Thomas Jefferson, specifically in the Declaration of Independence. In that superbly written document we read,

 "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.- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." 

It then stands to reason that the government itself is created through the consent of We the People, and its purpose is to protect the rights of all sovereign individuals. At some point in the history of this once great nation, people began to take freedom for granted and the government began taking freedom from them.

The document itself is rebellious. It is the very essence of what Americans are in a sense, a revolutionary force in the world, that does not subscribe to the subjection to laws and regulations that inhibit the freedoms we hold so precious. And to protect those freedoms we must be rebellious at all times to anyone and anything that will attempt to deny us those rights.

In her book, Give Me Liberty, Naomi Wolf challenges the reader with these very same principles, to revolt, to rebel, and to be ever vigilant of those who seek to control you. It is portrayed as "A handbook for American Revolutionaries" and rightly so. 

In the present times, the very government that our founders created now view those same founders as extremists and insurgents, and that is exactly how we all must be to keep our freedoms and stop the tyranny of a government out of control. It is why the government wants gun bans, and laws that prohibit free speech. It is why we have unconstitutional laws such as the (un)Patriot(otic) Act and NDAA. If our founders were alive today, I am certain they would be gathering militias to storm the halls of the nation's capital and remove those guilty of high crimes and treason. But they are no longer with us and we must take up the challenge ourselves.