Those who expect to reap the blessing of freedom must undertake to support it. – Thomas Paine
God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it. – Daniel Webster
One of the indispensable foods for the human soul is liberty. – Simone Weil
Freedom cannot be given; it must be purchased. – Booker T Washington
Liberty is not to be had or held without effort. – Herbert C Hoover
There were two things I had a right to, liberty and death. If I cannot have one, I would have the other. – Harriet Tubman
Very nice -- much better than the usual sanctimonious and sentimental faux patriotism claptrap we usually are inundated with on the 4th. Too bad FDR's famous "Four Freedoms" are left out. There's a lot of econ, not just philosophy, in those. And I sure wish the right and the left could come to some agreement about what the words "liberty" and "freedom" actually mean, but no such luck. As with all such conceptual terms, the meaning is very different from different points of view. For some it's the freedom to exploit others and get away with it without consequences; for others it's simply freedom FROM exploitation by the powerful. Welcome to the 1880's and '90's all over again -- or as some see it, medieval feudalism with barons and serfs and nothing in between. The Mayans and others were right about history being cyclical rather than straight-line, I think. The cycle is simply turning on us.
And don't forget this famous quote: "People will always trade their freedom for security, so first make them afraid and insecure" -- Hermann Goering, paraphrasing Napoleon.
Gee, I wonder what he really meant by "freedom"? He was quite the exploiter of those weaker than himself, after all.
FDR's Four Freedoms: Freedom from want, Freedom from fear, Freedom of speech (and thought), Freedom of religion (belief). Pretty good definition of "freedom" ," I think, because it's functional, operational, and practical -- not theoretical, philosophical, or ideological.
Happy Fourth of July - Independence Day. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence. The Fourth of July is a holiday marking national independence, independence of the Thirteen Colonies from the British Empire.
ReplyDeleteOur national independence has been secure for a long time, at least as long as I've been alive. During my lifetime, the real struggle in America has not been for national independence, but rather for personal independence.
1941 was the year that saw the last great assault on America's national independence. Despite that, President Roosevelt chose in his 1941 State of the Union address to focus not on national independence, but instead on personal independence. This is what he said:
When Every Day is a Holiday.
"In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression-everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way-everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want-which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear-which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor-anywhere in the world. That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb."
If we ever see a time when we have "secure[d] to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants" - freedom from want - then as far as I'm concerned, from that day forward, every day will be a holiday. For sure, every day will be worth celebrating.
Courage,
Alan Grayson
8419 Oak Park Road, Orlando, FL 32819
Paid for and Authorized by the Committee to Elect Alan Grayson
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ReplyDeleteI've been so overwhelmed by disgust and frustration with our government that I can barely read an article or listen to an interview without having to stop and take deep breaths. I appreciate that you posted this, it reminds me that someone, at sometime, was looking into the future and wanting to avoid this moment. We are not free from want or fear, if anything, we are still cursed, if not more so, with those old human conditions than ever. So much non-cooperation, so much hatred and vitriol in all spheres of media and politics, barely a conversation to be had without someone spitting venom. It's enough to make a girl try really hard to figure out a way to get over the lack of sunlight in winter in Denmark. Oh, and pickled herring.
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