So, Three Wolves and a Sheep Walk Into a Bar...

Democracy does not guarantee freedom. Generally, it destroys freedom.

photo by Pixabay

In the previous post I discussed voting rights.  Very few of us had them at first, now nearly everyone has them. That makes us more free, right?  Maybe not.

I talk about freedom a lot, as do other people. Maybe it’s about time to consider it more carefully, and from two perspectives.  How free do we want to be, and how free are we allowed to be?  I guess the ideal is to achieve an equilibrium between how much we want to be free and how much we are allowed to be free.  What happens when that’s not the case?  Let’s consider.

A good marriage is an ideal blend of surrendered freedom.  Yes!  There it is; Surrendered Freedom!  I’ve been looking for that term for a long time, and it was just sitting there. Two people surrender a certain amount of their personal freedom because they see an ultimate benefit in the marriage. No one else need consider the choice those two people make, it’s entirely up to them.

On the other hand, there are those who choose not to surrender freedom to marriage, and they don’t have to. But besides marriage, we surrender freedom in other ways. We surrender freedom to drive on the road.  We can’t (or aren’t supposed to) drive any speed we want, or go thru redlights, and so forth. In that regard, driving resembles marriage in surrendering freedom; we all agree to it. But it starts getting dicey, because people I don’t even know and didn’t necessarily vote for are deciding how fast I can go. Then again, when my wife is in the car, she sometimes tells me how fast I can go! 

Good government is tricky business.  Good government should try to be like a good marriage, cooperative and even-handed. There is no good marriage in which the two parties pick fights over absolutely everything and insist on having things their own way.  Yes, I’ll give up some freedom, but not to just anyone, and not without expectations in return.  Here’s a thought: Would you be willing to enter into a marriage in which your spouse was selected by a majority vote of others?

330 million people are not always going to get along.  In fact, they are NEVER going to get along.  To me, that means we should have as few laws as possible, leaving all of us free to go in whatever directions we choose.  If 330 million people all want exactly the same thing, you don’t even need a law.  We’ll all just do it, and nobody will complain, and no cop will arrest us.  In the past, that has happened exactly never.

You can’t vote for freedom; you can only vote to restrict it.   We all have the right to vote on what freedoms to surrender.  But can we in good conscience vote to surrender someone ELSE’S freedom?  Yes, you MUST get this shot.  Yes, you MUST pay these taxes, even if you hate the things we do with them. Those are the things we vote for, or at least we vote for the people who make those choices.  That’s fair, right?  There’s an old saying, “Democracy is three wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.” No, democracy is not the same as freedom.  In fact, they are contradictory.  Freedom is never up for a vote, but restricting freedoms is.

Bigger and bigger government means less and less freedom.  Most importantly, it means less and less surrendered freedom.  We all sense it.  We all complain about it.  I have just this one, little question:  Now that we all have the right to vote, why are we LESS free?  Is this what we really wanted?  Apparently not, yet here we are.

Real freedom ain’t easy. In a previous piece I delineated some of the complications and discomfort of freedom.   A canary in a cage is not at all free, but it gets fed, faces no predators, and need never stress about anything.  Oh, joy!

We start off having a relatively easy life. No baby can take care of itself, but most need not fret, because parents are there to see to their needs.  A child that is not taught differently is likely to grow into adulthood thinking that being taken care of is their due, based on their past experience.  No one, and I mean no one, has any right to expect that. With almost no exceptions, no working age adult is owed healthcare, a home, food, education, utilities or much of anything else.  In fact, working age adults can be expected to PROVIDE those things, to their children and, eventually, their parents.

All citizens have the right to vote (with some exceptions).  What about responsibilities?  Why do we nearly never hear about responsibilities? The fifteenth, nineteenth and twenty sixth amendments say nothing about responsibilities.  Why not? If you want a home, you must provide it, or else someone must provide it for you.  Same for food, healthcare, etc.  By what right would you make someone else provide those things for you?  Because they have more money and can afford it?  What has that got to do with anything?  Someone having more money than you in no way justifies you talking it from them.  And here’s the tricky part.  Here’s the part about surrendered freedom: Anyone you rely upon to provide for your needs, owns a piece of your freedom. THEY decide what needs to meet, and how they will meet them. And, trust me on this, your favorite politician is not meeting your needs with his money. Think about it… I rely upon my wife, and she thereby owns a piece of my freedom.  Surrendered freedom.  I chose to do that and have never regretted it. 

I see people routinely surrender their freedom to political parties, in exchange for promises of greater comfort and less responsibility.  That’s not a trade I’m willing to make.  It’s a trade I should not have to make.  There was a time, almost fifty years ago when I saw that I needed to make a choice.  I could keep teaching, get a guaranteed salary, healthcare, retirement and job security.  Why would I leave all that?  Because I wanted to be my own man.  I wanted my freedom.  I was willing to take on the responsibilities that come with that freedom.  It matters not what others want, it’s what I want.  It is not up for a vote.  Democracy means nothing here. 

Governments can only take freedom, they cannot grant it.  I have thought for myself for fifty years.  I have provided for myself and my family for fifty years.  Freedom ain’t easy.  In fact, it can be downright difficult.  Yes, folks, freedom is worth that price.

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What is your Surrendered Freedom? What has been taken from you? I’d like to hear.