Just think that 233 years ago; the continental congress was in the final hours of deliberating what to do. They decided to risk everything so we could have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They stood up to the oppression of a King's rule across the ocean, under penalty of certain death so that one day our citizens would have the right to call 911 over missing McNuggets and French Fries. How pathetic have we become? Suck it up Americans and do something great once more.Liberty came at a heavy price; don't squander the investment by trading liberty for entitlements. Be something exceptional. Uplift each other. Support one another. Not out of governmental quotas but out of brotherly love. Do the right thing, not out of regulation but integrity of character.
Clean up your messes, care for the sick, help the poor by teaching them how to fish and how to farm. Build industry, don't tear it down. Clean up your streets. Capture those that would commit crimes. Rise above and stand up for liberty for others.
Take care of your resources. Use them don't hoard them. Do what you must do. Be entrepreneurs and alchemists alike. Take the land you have and make it produce. Take the community you live in and serve it with a product or service. Do the best thing you can do to help and eliminate your need for dependence. Celebrate independence by becoming independent.
I am a first generation American. My parents were refugees, they were sick, they were beaten and oppressed. You liberated their countries and they sought you out to become one of you. In 1976 my father was sworn in as an American citizen. I was just 5 years old and I remember the day. I know of Americas greatness first hand.
Today our elected officials barter with each other, trading the wealth of their constituents like poker chips in a growing pot for pet legislation and ear marks. Selling out restrictions on liberty in exchange for pork and more pork. Citizens vote for entitlements not liberty and cast off the heritage that freed the world in exchange for a caretaker.
And so it begins to end? Or perhaps not?
What will I do? I will pursue happiness. I will pursue independence. I will never give up. I will suffer defeat and set back, but I will carry on.
And you who would do this; trade your liberty for cheeseburgers and teeth cleaning? You believe in rights of entitlements and government guarantees? You have already decided that forever you will not be free anymore. You are wards of the state. You are dependents not independents. A conflict of interest on every vote. Inseparable from the motive of your vote. You are in it for you. And you are part of the masses. You vote to punish, to take away, to levy charges and enforce punishment. You take away life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in exchange for what? What do you think you deserve? You do not realize that you are voting for slavemenship to the state. That you are selling your liberty and taking away others in a trade for entitlements. How is it any different? How is it right? Where is the justice in this?
It's been said that history repeats itself. How tragic is that? That we don't learn from the fall of other democracy and preserve our republic. That we go from protecting individual liberty to the oppression of the majority? How tragic to vote to take away from the minority? And so it is today.
Your congress has for too long acted with no more accountability to their constituents; other than bribes and ear marks. To take the money from others to give to their own. To serve as Lords over the people, taking away and giving back. How tragic. How tragic that our Lords lie to us, and we know that they do. While promising not to levy new taxes they levy new fees on industry. Who will pay these fees? The customers of utility companies, the owners of homes, the sellers of homes, the buyers of products. How is it that a fee on tea is not considered a tax? How gross is this? Where will it end? What is too much? What's my fee? Tell me? Is there a fee I can pay to be left alone? No. There is no more liberty. I am trapped. They will come for me.
All I know to do is to work to escape the oppression of my masters. To earn and try to buy my freedom. To pay the taxes and leans against me. As they rise, pay them again. As they decide to take more, pay more.
I go to war? No. I go to business. I go out and risk it all. I fight for others, for my employees, for our shareholders. It's what I do. I will do what I can to take the tiny bit of freedom that I still have and leverage it into something better for my family and community.
I pray that today you would consider the same. And the next time you have the chance to take a freedom away from someone else, you say no. If the Feds offer you a handout, you say no. You say NO! What's in it for you? Nothing. Suck it up. Stand on your own and do what's right. You are either proud of your independence or not. Choose wisely.
On this day, remember that it was others that chose to risk everything so that you may be free. They voted to cut themselves off. They voted to preserve justice. They voted against taxes. They risked it all and many of them gave it all. And what have we done with the liberty they gave? We've voted to gradually take it away.
No other country in all of history has done so much to ensure the liberty of so many. It's called freedom but it was not free. It came at a tremendous price and a tremendous risk. It started as a declaration. What declaration shall you make? What now will you do?
Soul-searching thoughts!
Danny, you make us proud....
The biggest issue we face in our country today - IMHO - is
the size and role of government along with the spirit of entitlement -
combined with the deep systemic corruption that exists in DC & especially in
our congress. We have shifted and drifted into a new mentality as a nation.
I think you stated something like our political leaders lie to us and we
shrug because we expect it. How true - how sad.
I'm like you - I'm going to go to work - try to love my Lord, family,
church, friends and make a difference in my community and sphere of
influence. But I'm not expecting much help from my government.
Perhaps the sick state of our government says as much about the American
people as it does about the government?
Very thought provoking and passionate blog - thanks for sharing.
Brilliant. I forwarded this on to my friends. I feel like there are two
"realities" out there. Reminds me of the red pill/ blue pill dilemma from
the movie The Matrix. We've had it so good for so long, that people don't
realize what's at stake or what price was paid to achieve the freedoms we
now take for granted. Perhaps it's feudal for me to try to wake people up
to this as I know in my heart that this is not our home and things will
never make sense by man's ways, but it just kills me to see us giving it
away to people who are so dishonest and irresponsible.
I want to add a follow-up comment. I just re-read this post from Danny and want to say - The themes you are talking about are critical to our life together as a nation. Your central points have great validity and relevance today.
It is sad to me that they are ignored for the most part in public discourse. The media reduces everything to sound bites. The election campaigns are superficial and pathetic efforts to win votes from various blocs of people by promising their group something from DC.
I think the government today is heading towards socialism - but the sad part is - People seem to want this. Today many really buy the lie that the government can make everything better if the government has more control, more money, more programs, more regulations etc. etc. etc.
As we lose our liberty perhaps we get what we deserve?
Well said.
RT @dkolke This is my #independenceday rant: What declaration shall you make? http://tr.im/qCGp // A must-read & RT.
RT @dkolke: My #independence day rant: Suck it up Americans and do something great... http://tr.im/qCGp #july4th ~ well said Danny.
Bravo
Wow. You nailed it! I'll do the same.
Everyday is a battle. A fight between good and evil, between freedom and slavery. What shall we choose every moment of every day? Draw a line in the sand and declare that "I choose what is right, and I choose freedom!"
Give me liberty! Or McNuggets?
likewise ...
See the following:
THE 4TH OF JULY Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!
Read the declaration of independence. It will inspire you.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
Great blog! The guy who mentioned the Matrix. That movie had a lot of truth in it. The premise of that movie is not all that different from your blog Danny. There truly isn't a lot of freedom today. It is an illusion at best. We are controlled by so many external things like materialism all fueled by fear. Then are reliance on illegal drugs as well as legal ones including prescription drugs of all kinds. We trust the popular media so well when its main focus is to propel and massage fear. True freedom is living a life without fear. When fear is dispelled we are able to move in life the way our God intended. Which naturally is to serve fellow man. I feel lucky that God puts people in my life that I am able to give that away and make a difference. To see the change in their lives and to see them cause changes in others lives. One person at a time.
@dkolke well said danny! - http://bit.ly/URy8V
Awesome! Freedom is not free!
Well said. I wish people would read this kind of thing and consider it seriously instead of just brushing it aside. You have written well what I believe.
So I will decide to follow the same path, and look to God for my direction.
Thanks for writing and sharing.
My parents are immigrants too. Your post really touched me.
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