Did We Forget Why We Are Here?

Freedom – that is why we are here, is it not?! How did our great nation begin…. somewhere in there, was a quest, a yearning, for freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from any large entity dictating to us – telling us how we must live our lives, no taxation without representation, of speech, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We need our government, to keep us safe as a nation, to maintain our rights as individuals and to/from each other – I don’t have the right to trample anybody else’s rights. And to those ends, I completely understand we owe it to ourselves to keep our government strong enough to accomplish those tasks. But when one entity, even our own government, mandates that I must pay a tax or a penalty solely for NOT buying into “their” health insurance system, simple because I breathe, are not my rights trampled?! The Boston tea party protested such a thing, did it not? And just because I have more than one option, to take away my individual right to choose, to buy or not buy, is an equal, if not worse injustice – because it is disguised as having a choice. And when the highest court in our great land fails to fiercely uphold the very basic premise of our existence in these United States of America, the door is open for the government to micromanage every part of our lives so deemed as a tax for the good of all. I love the United States of America – we have more freedom here than anywhere in the world, but when the leaders of our government seeks to manage us, to make us behave, for our own good, to parent us – not talking about the price we pay for privileges, but a price to simply “exist” – that goes beyond the basic social good, beyond the basic protections it should provide – we must re-examine: Why are we here? If we were not allowed to question and continue to contemplate our leadership, our evolving government, and our desires as a nation, we would not be free. It is our glorious and complex past that has lead us here – let us not forget – let us be thankful – and continue to question our journey. Happy 4th of July!!