Freedom

by Phillip Torsrud

Many entities like taking credit for the freedom that the American people have.  Politicians, the military, even the media at times use the mantra, "fighting for our freedom".  It's a surprise that the scientists and engineers who develop our weapons don't feel the need to explain that if they didn't invent the atom bomb, stealth bomber, M-16, etc..., we would not be the "leader of the free world".  Perhaps the billions of dollars we spend on our weapons industries keeps them from wasting time explaining how much we need them to maintain our freedom.

The problem is that a free country cannot remain so if people believe that it is someone else's responsibility to provide them with their freedom as though it were a service.  The justification for personal freedom is that people have a conscience that makes them aware of the significance of being free and the faculties to exercise that freedom responsibly.  When people lack a conscience or are irresponsible, they are sanctioned through a loss of freedom.  This can range from taking away someone's driver's license to putting them in prison. 

While sanctions have always existed, the current trend of legislating away personal freedom is a reaction to a tremendous number of irresponsible people who abuse their freedoms.  Rather than do the real work needed to develop a society of educated, fully developed adults who can function in a free society, people are satisfied with simply reiterating the sanctions we've always had by passing a new law.  This is an offered service, which only results in empowering the government.  Does this address the dysfunctional nature of the people who abused their freedom?  Empowering the individual to take responsibility for their community and self is the only workable solution in a free society.

Freedom is a revolutionary idea, and only in recent history became a social norm.  As societies constantly organize and reorganize, whatever party takes on the power of the establishment in our ever shifting political landscape will try to control people, markets, ideas, etc... to serve their agenda.  Therefore, the individual is always faced with the dilemma of conforming, or staking out their values against the herd of sheep who will trample over their own freedoms in pursuit of a leader who promises to do their work for them.  Free societies depend on individuals with the backbone to reject these false promises and thereby manifest their identity and maintain their culture.

Today, Americans have a false sense of freedom that is manifested in style, not substance.  Through the clothes they wear, the way they talk, tattoos, piercings, or even riding a motorcycle, Americans like to present a façade of having a rebel mentality, implying how deeply they value freedom.  Yet when a problem arises, the first institution they call on to solve it, is the government.  No matter what the cost in freedom or money, only the government is thought of as having any problem solving ability.  

In France, there are 63,000 prison inmates, and 1,100 are in for terrorist related activity.  That works out to almost 1,000 inmates for every million people.  Wisconsin would have around 5,000 inmates at those rates, but instead has over 23,000 inmates, and zero for terrorist related activities.  Paris itself has more people than all of Wisconsin, and has more visitors per year than any place on earth, some of whom commit crimes.

We liberated France from the Germans, but now the French value freedom more than Americans.  In France, incarceration is only used when absolutely necessary.  Why is it the last option?  So that the government can invest in an educational system that is far better than ours, national health care, and an infrastructure that makes people want to go there to live or travel.  It's called having your priorities straight.  Since the French are educated, they would never allow their politicians to use fear to turn their nation into a police state.  Only people with a slave mentality would sacrifice their future by wasting so many precious resources on institutions that only offer the illusion of safety.

Freedom starts in the mind.  It is an idea that once embraced becomes an attitude.  When a sufficient number of people adopt that attitude it becomes a movement.  When that movement is successful, a society begins to have institutions that reflect that attitude in their policies.  The reason that America's national anthem ends with, "in the land of the free and the home of the brave," is because freedom and bravery go hand in hand.  The freedom to live a worthwhile life will never be risk free.  America will never be a free country until it stops living in fear.

To learn more about taking ownership of our freedom and reforming our fear mongering legal system, please read Essays of a Penitentiary Philosopher at my site www.crimeandculture.com and also available at Amazon.com and bn.com.