Editorial: Where is the Liberty Going?
The Loss of Freedom and the Slide towards Tyranny
By Michael Benoit
What is tyranny?
October 1, 2008 (San Diego's East County) - It is the taking control of your body, mind or property without your consent. Freedom
comes to us naturally and tyranny is a stripping away of that freedom. Our
freedom can be classified into two categories -- the first being personal,
and the second being economic.
These freedoms, of course, are joined, so a loss of one equates to a loss
of the other. I don't believe that there can ever be a consistent
level of freedom from one person to the next. For example, if the politicians
make it mandatory to wear a seatbelt, this is an infringement on our personal
liberty; if we are punished by the state for not wearing the belt, which usually
comes in the form of a fine which diminishes our economic freedom. To the wealthy
the loss of freedom is likely not to be perceived at all.
If someone is arrested for cause, or for no cause, obviously there is a loss
of freedom. This is a loss felt by all. The country's founders
gave us a way to restore this lost freedom if government had no right to take
it from us. This protection is called Habeas Corpus, "the right
to have a neutral judge decide whether or not there was cause to deny your
freedom or not." We all know that the current administration in Washington
DC, along with a bipartisan congress, has stripped us of this protection against
infringement on our liberties. They have, as well, violated our freedoms
to be secure in our papers and personal effects as guaranteed under the 4th
Amendment.
Today, I am motivated to write due to the gargantuan loss of freedom this
administration is proposing, and what they have already done in regards to
Wall Street bailouts. People, we, and our children and their children, are
being sold into slavery to bail out the wealthy and the elite from their reckless
endeavors, and it is being sold to us as a plan to save us from financial ruin. I
ask you, how is it possible that placing debt on the working middle class and
poor, and all future generations, is doing anything but enslaving?
Michael Benoit (www.benoit08.com) is
the Libertarian candidate for the 52nd Congressional District seat. Editorials
are strictly the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
views of East County Magazine or our publisher. If you wish to submit an
editorial for consideration, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.