Liberty Lost in America
Declaration of Independence
"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."
These words, from The Declaration of Independence of The United States of America, are the foundation of our nation. They do not declare that our rights come from the government, as many today seem to believe. They declare that God, the Creator of our Universe, endows us with these rights. And that the government, by our consent, is to ensure these rights are inviolable—particularly, that our individual Liberty is not violated by the Government itself.
Signing of the Declaration of Independence
What is Liberty?
Liberty is the state of being a person within society free from restrictions upon one's way of life imposed by authority. Liberty is the right to act according to one's own will. Liberty differs, however, from licentiousness or libertinism.
Liberty has been severely eroded in America in the past 100 years. It has happened so gradually that, like the proverbial frog in the pot, many may not have noticed.
Liberty has been diminished by the terrible increase in the power of the Federal Government. This has myriad causes and crucial moments but the four key players in this tragedy, in the public eye at least, have been the Supreme Court; Woodrow Wilson; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; and Lyndon Baines Johnson.
But there is a power underlying this institution and these men. And this power seeks to control everything we do, the words we speak, and even what we think—except for the freedom of licentiousness or libertinism; this is the bone they throw the dogs to placate them.
Declaration of Independence
Government Constrains Liberty
In the 19th Century, an American could safely ignore the Government and decide for himself on virtually all matters of behavior. Consider, for a simple example, that throughout human history, if a man was hungry, he would go to a lake, river or stream, cast his line, catch a fish, and eat. About 100 years ago, this simple affair became subject to a license from the government.
This sounds rather non-intrusive but it meant that a man was no longer as free as he once was. At the same time, building codes began to spring up, taking away the freedom of a man to build a dwelling as he saw fit. It was not many decades after this, that a lack of housing for the poor came to the forefront. After all, many of the poor could not afford to build shelter for themselves that met the building code.
About ten years after building codes came to be, zoning laws were created, meaning, that no longer was man free to build his home or have a little business wherever he wanted. These laws eventually drove up the cost of real estate—beyond the means of the poor—because governing zones of land use, naturally reduces the amount of available land for various activities, making it scarcer and as with anything else, scarcity is a determinate of price. Surely the day would come when the government would have to provide housing—giving it thus the power to decide whom could live where; a loss of Liberty.
Signing of the Constitution of the United States of America
Federal Income Tax
The Federal Income Tax was made law in 1913. Since it was unconstitutional to confiscate part of a person's earnings, the 16th Amendment was passed in order that the government might seize a portion of each person's productive labor. This was a great loss of Liberty. Until this time, each person kept 100% of whatever they earned.
There are only two paths to the acquisition of wealth: the production of goods and services that are voluntarily exchanged for the goods and services produced by others (the Free Market); And the seizure of another man's fruits of production by force.
A predatory state may then inflict burdens upon some citizens; while granting subsidies and privileges to others. This results in a loss of Liberty for both classes of citizens—though obviously more so for the tax producer, because this man has the results of his labor confiscated against his will. But also the tax consumer must forfeit some of his Liberty to "qualify" for the largess.
Obviously, this loss of Liberty can only be accomplished if the citizenry can be persuaded that this confiscation is not only benign but beneficial. This persuasion has been the prime function of the 'Progressive' intelligentsia in America for the past 100 years.
The CONSTITUTION
The New Deal
The New Deal of the 1930s really got the ball rolling. The Federal Government seized control over many aspects of the lives of the citizens, including the national economy, the supply of money, agricultural production, and the prices of goods. The government assumed the ultimate power to restrict the Liberty of some groups for the benefit of others.
Now, a lot of these programs were said to be temporary but in reality: Liberties surrendered are rarely reclaimed, except by force. For the first time, for example, the Federal Government took control of farming and—of all things—the Arts.
One must understand that most losses of Liberty happen in small steps. During the 1930s the Government began to tell farmers what to plant, how much of it to plant, and what they could sell it for. And paid some farmers not to plant anything at all. In 2007, farmers were paid $1.3B not to grow food.
This may sound normal to some postmodern people, but the fact is, human beings have been farming since time immemorial with the Liberty to grow whatever food they wanted to grow; and sell it to whomever they wanted, whenever they wanted, for whatever price both sides decided was a fair exchange.
Under FDR, the Arts were funded by the Government for the first time. Now, this may look, on its surface, to be a good thing, but the fact is this: money was confiscated from some people; and given to others to produce art that, those people whose funds were confiscated, may not have wanted produced.
This is a loss of Liberty to choose what Art you exchange the fruits of your labor for. And who chooses what Art is worth the taxpayer's money and what Art is not? Even the consumer of Art has lost Liberty; the Liberty to pay for the Art one wants to pay for and none other. I made my living as a professional musician for 20 years and I never got a government grant for my Art.
BILL OF RIGHTS
The Great Society
Fast forward to the 1960s, because I am running out of time for this short-attention-span generation. The Great Society. Sounds like a good idea. A chicken in every pot.
The unenlightened may think the Great Society was good for the poor. The Truth is that poor were among the victims of the Great Society—along with those who pay for it. By the 1970s most Americans, through these various schemes, were dependent upon the Federal Government.
If you are dependent , you are not free. You have lost the Liberty that our Founding Fathers said was God given, not granted by other men or your government.
The only way to convince the American citizens to go along with this scheme has to be to convince them, through indoctrination by the public schools—and the increasingly government subsidized university system—that there is no God. Because, my friends, if there is no God: your inalienable rights in The Declaration of Independence actually come from the State.
This was not easy to accomplish in America, once by far the most religious nation on earth, believing as we did in the Christian God. But: if the government schools and government subsidized universities could convince children, while they are impressionable, by the authority of the state, that they descended from apes and were therefore nothing more than highly accomplished animals—and not beings created in the Image of God—perhaps they could be persuaded to surrender their Liberty to the State.
The Government could then convince the unknowing, that America is still Free, when in fact Freedom is nearly gone, replaced by a Government that controls its society right down to their will, actions, speech—and if they are able to determine them: even their thoughts.
After all, if people are granted the freedom to unlimited personal licentiousness—and provided with enough bread and booze—they just might surrender, one small piece at a time, their sovereignty as individuals that our Founding Fathers envisioned for us.
But the only way this can be fully realized would be through a huge national bureaucracy—unelected, serving for life, and free to make law that they call "regulations" without the Will of the People—through its elected Representatives— considered whatsoever.
One might think that, in 2009, we have three branches of Government according to the United States Constitution. Think again. The 4th branch, not in our Constitution, is the Bureaucracy, a self-serving and corrupt entity whose motives, objectives, policies and standards are removed from the authority of the People—an incredible infringement on Liberty. If you fail to realize how powerful the Bureaucracy is, get in the wrong line at the Driver's License Bureau.
The Federal Bureaucracy now has usurped most all Liberty that Americans, before they became helpless sheep, once took for granted. This bureaucracy employs three million people who decide how much Liberty you will have. They decide who can and under what rules all Americans can do almost everything we do.
The reach of this Bureaucracy includes: walking, bicycling, horse riding, driving cars, boating, flying; farming, gardening, eating; building, business, trade, commerce, travel, housing; local education, university education, job training; working, hiring, compensation, benefits, working hours, working conditions; buying, selling, trading, transporting; transfer of funds, inheritance; trucking, highways, railways, waterways; camping; lending, borrowing; use of land, fishing, hunting, mining; use of alcohol, drugs, firearms . . . need I go on? Because I could go on all day. My point is that none of these violations of your individual Liberty existed 100 years ago.
But, to placate us we have been given a few new Liberties that our Founding Fathers not only never envisioned us having; but would have recoiled at the thought of us desiring them.
The Government has the power to destroy the basic unit of human life enshrined in our Liberty—The Family—by promoting unfettered divorce; the rendering of the role in human history of the father as superfluous, by granting the State the power, through Family Court, to separate a man from his children for any insinuation, thus making the woman and the children effectively wards of the state and the father merely a financial benefactor of them through threat of imprisonment; the elimination of the traditional role served by the Church and religion as the guardrails of human behavior; to eliminate the freedom of an employer to hire whomever he wants as was always accorded through human history; to destroy the intimate connection charity always had throughout the centuries between the giver and the receiver, by making the government the arbiter of charity; to remove God from the public square; to remove from landlords the wisdom to choose their own tenants; to force upon lenders whom they will loan money to, regardless of creditworthiness. Oh God, I could go on for weeks about the losses of Liberty in this country in the last 100 years.
THE FLAG FOR WHICH WE STAND
Conclusion
I must stop at some point. To really examine the effects of the Great Society and the last 40 years of rule in The United States by Radical Liberals I will need another Hub because I am sure that as I have run out of energy recounting this horribly sad tale, you have surely run out of attention span reading it. It is an immense story of the loss of human Liberty in what was once the most free nation in the history of the earth, the United States of America.
FREEDOM TOWER
Comments
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on January 01, 2020:
Thank you Kelly Ann!
Kelly Ann Christensen from Overland Park, Johnson County, Kansas on December 31, 2019:
I'll look forward to that, James. I'll be watching for it.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on December 31, 2019:
Kelly Ann Christensen ~ You ask a great question. I never did get around to writing that Hub. Maybe I will do it soon. I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it. Thanks for that. And thank you for visiting.
Kelly Ann Christensen from Overland Park, Johnson County, Kansas on December 29, 2019:
I'm so disgusted and outraged with what is going on that I don't even know where to start. I'm interested to know whether you ever wrote that next hub on the last 40 years?
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on March 03, 2019:
Connie120 ~ Thank you so much for your lovely laudations. I appreciate the visit and I apologize for not responding sooner. I must have missed the notification that you had left a comment.
Connie120 on April 22, 2013:
I know this is an old hub, but I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate it. It is a great exposition of what liberty should be, and how our rights have been eroded over the years by the government.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on July 05, 2012:
SirDent— I thank you my friend for coming by to read this old article of mine and for letting me know you were here again. It is an honor and a pleasure to receive you.
"Animal Farm" is a heckuva book, to be sure. I certainly appreciate your kind compliments on my work, Brother. It is always a hoot to hear from you. I will be by soon to see what you've been writing lately.
James :D
SirDent on June 29, 2012:
As I read through this hub for the second time, I kept thinking of a novelette I read back in high school. It was titled Animal Farm and written by George Orwell, if I am not mistaken.
The government has become the Pigs of the book. Everything was great in the beginning then the pigs started taking authority over all the other animals. Liberalism is turning into socialism.
I am also reminded of a Bible verse. "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY." An awesome old hub James.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on June 29, 2012:
Levertis Steele— Thank you for your powerful words.
You wrote: "Please never say that you would never place your mom in a nursing home. . . . I said the same thing once, and behold my mother! I did not know that her condition and needs would be far from my abilities."
Well put. We never know what the future holds. And there is no doubt that many people need professional care.
You added: "I am thankful for the nursing home and the care she gets."
I can empathize with you on that. I knew a girl a long time ago who worked in a nursing home and it is tough work.
You write, "Someone in the family is there to visit with her nearly every day, and that's important."
It certainly is. That is awesome.
I think we should recognize as well that as a society—not in your individual case nor in many other cases—we have become much more about "me" than we used to be. It was once nearly universal that Americans felt a debt to past generations and a debt to future generations. I do not see that now. I think this is because the public schools, courts, universities, and media have worked for decades to diminish belief in God—in particular Judgment Day and the Afterlife. This makes folks much more about "me" and "today" and "If it feels good do it" and "Just do it" and "Have it your way" "Go for the gusto" because "You only live once." After all, if we are nothing more than accidental animals without a spiritual nature why should we care about anything other than the avoidance of pain and the attainment of pleasure?
Levertis Steele from Southern Clime on June 21, 2012:
Magnoliazz said,
"People are getting poorer all the time too, mainly because they no longer inherit anything from the parents. Because women are no longer at home, no one is there to take care of mom and dad when they get older. They go to a nursing home, and all their wealth is eaten up by it leaving nothing left. . . .everyone is way too busy with their so called "life" to be bothered with taking care of the elderly. My mother will never end up in a nursing home, I can tell you that much."
Children cannot take care of parents the way they used to because ways of life have changed. It is not fair to blame them unless their care supercedes that of a nursing home. Children are working their butts off every day trying to take care of their families and send half to college. So, how can poor people stop working to take care of parents when they need money to take care of themselves and family? It is true that many people do not need to be in a nursing home, but many others do. I know a lady who is in the last stages of congestive heart failure, has severe lung, blood pressure, dementia, and diabetes problems. She cannot walk, feed herself, or turn herself over. She often cannot carry on an intelligible conversation, and she is sometimes paranoid. She has difficulty swallowing and is at high risk for choking. She is connected to a B-pap machine to receive oxygen, and has had at least four respiratory failures in 12 months. Of course, she was revived. Do you recommend that her children take care of her at home? She must be monitored around the clock by professionsls for the rest of her life. This woman is my mother.
Please never say that you would never place your mom in a nursing home. You do not know what you have to endure in the future. I said the same thing once, and behold my mother! I did not know that her condition and needs would be far from my abilities. I do not have the expertise or convenience in my home to properly care for my mom. I am thankful for the nursing home and the care she gets. Someone in the family is there to visit with her nearly every day, and that's important.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on February 01, 2012:
Curiad— I share that hope with you, friend. America has been damaged but no matter how glaring the failures of the progressive political ideologies, their proponents keep claiming success! it is mind-boggling to me.
I am glad you stopped by. Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
Curiad on January 30, 2012:
I don't know how I missed this hub either, but it is so clearly written and dead on to what I have believed all of my adult life. I only hope that now in early 2012 there is still some hope of reversing this horrible damage done to our country and the collective mind of our society.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on January 13, 2012:
poetvix— You are most welcome. I thank you for coming by to check out this older Hub of mine. I am glad you agree that this is a timeless message of some import. I sincerely appreciate your warm words, and the excellent work you do here on HubPages with your own wonderful writings. :-)
poetvix from Gone from Texas but still in the south. Surrounded by God's country. on January 12, 2012:
They say a true classic is defined through its ability to withstand the test of time. This is every bit as true today as the day you wrote, arguably more so as we have lost more liberties. I love how in depth this is, how much evidence you state, the pure logic of it. Thank you!
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on September 05, 2011:
kidikirous1— Thank you!! I am glad that we are in agreeance. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community. I look forward to reading some of your writings.
kidikirous1 on September 04, 2011:
Great hub! You are absolutely correct, things are grim these days as government has dominated all facets of life:(
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on August 12, 2011:
AJReissig— Thank you for saying so! I love the Benjamin Franklin quote. I totally agree with your remarks.
I appreciate this visitation. I have made myself a note to come by ASAP and see what you've been writing.
Alex J. Reissig from New Richmond, Ohio on August 09, 2011:
Awesome hub. The loss of liberty in this country has been going on for far too long. Franklin said "Those who sacrifice freedom for security drserve neither". Too few people understand that statement, and how true it is.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on January 26, 2011:
wba108@yahoo.com— Fascinating and maddening. You can say that again. (I just did!) :D
When it comes to liberty lost it seems Americans are like the proverbial frog in the pot. It is so gradual that generations coming up can't miss what they never knew.
I love your remarks. Thank you for making them here. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. Good of you to come.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on January 26, 2011:
magnoliazz— Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! Your commentary takes the cake for the best comment I have perhaps ever received. If you don't mind, there are several nuggets I would like to include in my book. Rarely do I come across anyone with such clarity of thinking—especially against the grain as so many are loath to do so as to always "fit in" and all.
I cannot say more. Your words astonish me. I wish I had said them myself. Hats off to you, my lady. Thank you.
wba108@yahoo.com from upstate, NY on January 25, 2011:
This is both a fascinating and maddening subject. Many people don't have the wisdom to know when their freedoms are taken away or the understanding of liberty and the responsibility that goes with it! So many of these encroachments on our freedom need to be questioned. The sad irony is that the poor are victimized by those claiming to be their benefactors. Great analysis on the consequences of government intrusion into our lives. Without fail these intrusions do more harm than good and only serve the politicians and their special interests. Boy we are in great need of wisdom!
magnoliazz from Wisconsin on January 25, 2011:
Another great hub James! We need more American like you to help the rest of us wake up. You need to run for office, and I am not kidding either!
People are getting poorer all the time too, mainly because they no longer inherit anything from the parents. Because women are no longer at home, no one is there to take care of mom and dad when they get older. They go to a nursing home, and all their wealth is eaten up by it leaving nothing left. What a joke, and most people do not even belong in a nursing home in the first place, they need just a little attention, but of course everyone is way too busy with their so called "life" to be bothered with taking care of the elderly. My mother will never end up in a nursing home, I can tell you that much.
Another big way our lives changed is when women left the home and went out in the workforce. I think this event ruined the family more than anything. I remember when my dad used to come home, my mom had a great meal on the table, yes EVRERYDAY, we all sat down together and talked about the day. Now mom rushes home with bags of junk food, she has no time or energy to cook....(no wonder kids are so overweight these days). Everyone is in a bad mood. Dad is no longer respected as the head of the family, and everything degrades from there. Women have been brainwashed into believing that being a housewife is degrading. I would think that raising your children and caring for your husband and family would be the most important, God given job in the universe, but women today don't see it that way. They go to the gym and work out, and their homes are a filthy mess....they don't want to stay home and do anything! Can anyone else see what is wrong with the picture here? Its like no one has any common sense anymore.
When we stray from Bibical principles we lose out, BIG TIME! We need to get back to common sense and the basics.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on September 21, 2010:
Freeway Flyer— You make many valid and important points. I suppose some men yearn to be free, and other wish to create a perfect society by curbing individual liberty. Perhaps we have crossed the line over the middle ground. I enjoyed your keen insights. Thank you for visiting and commenting.
Paul Swendson on September 20, 2010:
I'm not disagreeing with you, but it is important to remember the origins of the regulations that can often be excessive. The 19th century was more free than today, but it was by no means a paradise. People worked in terrible conditions, lived in cities that were cesspools, maintained slavery followed shortly after by segregation, and were compelled to increasingly rely on mass produced goods that were not necessarily safe. Has the government gone overboard at times? Definitely. But would a "free" society be a paradise? No. It's important to keep in mind that the Constitution itself represented an effort to create a stronger federal government in order to bring some order after the failure of the Articles of Confederation.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on September 15, 2009:
Allan McGregor— I agree with your wise words here. I am working on a Hub about Israel but I won't have it ready for about two weeks. Right now, only research and rumination, but I have a concept of where I am going with it. The biggest problem is to make it truncated enough for general consumption.
I thank you, Allan, for the encouragement you have shown me this past week. I look forward to a long friendship with you centered on intellectual exchange.
Allan McGregor from South Lanarkshire on September 15, 2009:
Gentlemen. You are right about the Spirit of the Lord. George Washington certainly believed that America was blessed by God. And several commentators have observed how every time America moves against Israel, the nation is hit by some economic or natural disaster. The correlations are startling - often occurring on the same or very next day. I believe this is evidence of God lifting his hand off America, laying it vulnerable to whatever Satan wants to throw. And do you remember, just a few years ago, when Israel's prime minister was struck down by a fatal stroke only days after conceding 'land for peace'?
One commentator equates America's woes to Obadiah 15 (the shortest book of the Bible, right after Amos):
'For the day of Yahweh is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.'
Basically, this is a reciprocal promise that whatever a nation aims at Israel will rebound back upon it; all the more so, when the nation involved is powerful enough to actually affect harm against the 'Apple of God's Eye'. And Barack Obama is trying to strong-arm Israel even now, so watch out.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on September 14, 2009:
SirDent— Thank you, Sir. I'm glad you stumbled upon this one. I appreciate the accolades and as always, I am very happy to hear from you. :-)
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on September 14, 2009:
Allan McGregor— I haven't seen that web site but I have heard that name before, David Barton. I will check out that site straightaway. Thank you for the tip. And I appreciate the visitation and the comments! :)
SirDent on September 14, 2009:
I have no idea how I missed this hub before. The only thing that kept coming to mind as I read this hud is a scriptutre from the Bible. (paraphrased) Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. When the spirit of the Lord is removed or rejected, liberty goes also.
Very well written and presented using facts that are verifiable.
Allan McGregor from South Lanarkshire on September 14, 2009:
Have you looked up David Barton on www.wallbuilders.com?
This guy has studied American and Constitutional history for many years and can give you chapter and verse on the insidious undermining of Americans' Constitutional rights and anti-Christian legislation over the past two hundred years.
And what he doesn't know about anti-Christian US Supreme Court decisions isn't worth knowing.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on August 22, 2009:
Animals respect each other more than people? Do you, like . . . eat your neighbors!? That's gross! I suggest you watch some documentaries about say, the Wildebeest or Spiders, or Aanacondas, or Lions, or . . .oh never mind.
Still, I'm glad you came by and left your comments. I got a kick out of them.
garhunt05 on August 22, 2009:
to be completely honest we are simply a highly accomplished animal and even animals respect each other better than humans do. They don't have nearly the same amount of problems a human does in society both then and now. and to be fair again building codes meant safety but there must be a trade off of safety and freedom that is the trade off of civilization.
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on August 22, 2009:
Thank you.
Shahid Bukhari on August 22, 2009:
Anywhere !
James A Watkins (author) from Chicago on July 23, 2009:
Kebennett1— Yea, I guess that would kind of go against my own words on this Hub to cave in to a loss of Liberty. Interesting, how you tied that together. I don't think I saw your Hub but I will read it this weekend. Thanks so much for your encouragement.