Monday, June 29, 2009

A nation of slaves

In February, I did a post called "Another form of slavery?" in which I questioned whether or not Americans were trading freedom and liberty for slavery to government through dependence upon various programs.

At the time, I linked a column by Star Parker asking similar questions. There is now another one, this time by Nathan Tabor, called "The De Facto Slavery of the American People."

"Unfortunately,too many citizens do not recognize the revival of slavery, albeit more refined and less obvious enslavement. And, sadly, today more and more Americans are willing to give up certain freedoms in return for the promise of government largesse. And most of these citizens don't even realize what they're doing, because the news media are failing to perform their role as purveyors of truth and accuracy.

Enslavement will not come with a bang, but with a slow, relentless whimper. Each day, each week, each month, each year brings us closer to a state of de facto slavery as a result of greed disguised as "civil rights."

Ask most Americans and they will tell you that food, clothing, shelter and other necessities are "rights." Surely, they are necessities, but they are not rights that need to be provided by an omnipotent government.

And even when warranted, government charity has a way of morphing into government nightmares."

He applies the slavery concept to President Obama's health care plan:

"Dressed up with flowery language and high-sounding platitudes, it is nothing more than a grand power grab of life-and-death decision-making.

A friend asked me rhetorically: Why would Americans turn over their health and welfare -- their very lives -- to a bunch of crooked politicians who spend most of their time covering up, lying, cajoling and cheating, all in the name of power?

Why are Americans so quick to turn life-and-death decisions to a government that continues to have a problem covering up its sex scandals? Could it be they want to be enslaved?"

It's a good question and one I wonder about regularly - do people really want to be enslaved by government and told where to live, where to go to school, where to 'work' (as in Lucas County Commissioner's scholarship program that would require recipients to perform service in exchange for the money to pay for college), where to put their kids in daycare, which agencies can help them, what programs to enroll in, etc...?

Are people so afraid of doing things on their own that they would trade their freedom for the security of government care? Do they even realize that they have lost their freedoms as a result? Do they care?

It is the thought that so many of our fellow citizens think slavery to government is a good thing that has me worried for the future of our nation.

3 comments:

Timothy W Higgins said...

Maggie,

Is it fear or laziness in the American public that sacrifices liberty for protection? Has a growing bi-partisan government movement gotten far too good at telling us how complex our lives are today, how helpless we are in the quickening pace of change in this county, how only government with its experts and massive bureaucracy can understand what's really going on around us?

The enslavement movement being talked about is as insidious as it nefarious, it is as understated as it is overbearing, it is as secretive as it is successful.

Heaven help us from our ignorance, our laziness, and our weakness.

Kadim said...

It is possible of course that they already feel enslaved by the current health care system and that they are willing to take a chance on the evil that they don't know as opposed to tolerating the evil that they do know.

Hooda Thunkit (Dave Zawodny) said...

Could also be that they are comfortable and trusting in their so-called leadership and will only come to realize when it is too late that they have blindly let themselves be let into eternal slavery.

Then and only then will we hear the wailing and witness the gnashing of teeth, but to no avail...

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