Do you really want to be free?

I wrote the following piece a year ago today. Long before I ever considered having a blog. Last year people were criticizing Kaci Hickox for refusing to quarantine herself, and everybody was up in arms about same sex marriages.

This year we are all upset over school team mascots, confederate flags, STILL same sex marriages , and now,Halloween costumes.

What I wrote last year, still holds true today. More so in fact. We need to decide, as a nation…Do we REALLY want to be free?

“Think of your rights as an American Citizen as a dam built to hold back tyranny. We have so many rights, and it has been so long that anybody in the US has even known what it is like to be without them we take them for granted. The Soviet Union collapsed more than 20 years ago. Most of the people who suffered under the Nazi regime have passed away. We are on friendly terms with Communist China. Places like Cuba, and North Korea seem small, and far away. We look at their leaders as crazy power hungry monsters, but we trust that our government can protect us, just as they have protected us form the war on terror. All seems well in The United States. We are told the economy is recovering. President Obama is working to make health care more affordable. People speak out on the things they believe in. But many of the things that people believe are not what is best for us all. We react out of fear, or we are not as intelligent in our thinking as we may like to think. We turn to our government to protect us. We demand that things be changed to protect the many from the few. We limit our opinions, and even some of our beliefs out of fear of offending another person, and others feel that their rights are being violated because somebody chooses not to do business with them because of a difference in beliefs. We plead with the government to step in, and show us the way to peace and prosperity, often by willingly giving up the rights that were given to you by the people who founded this nation. Bit by bit we give up a small bit of privacy here, or the freedom to worship there. Because of terrorists we are subject to illegal search and seizure at airports, and because airlines are privately owned we justify it by saying that if we don’t like it, we don’t have to fly. We are OK with computers scanning our telephone conversations and emails, because no human ears or eyes are ever involved unless there is a flag. We scream for gun control because a handful of individuals gain world wide attention by taking the lives of innocents around them. We beg the government to isolate us from our friends and family out of fear of a potentially deadly illness. We are right to fear these things…but we MUST understand that when you willingly give up a right, you make it easier for somebody to take more of them. Brick by brick we erode the dam that protects “WE THE PEOPLE” , and once those bricks have been removed, they are never replaced, making it likely that one day the dam will fail, and you will be at the will of the raging waters that have been held back for more than 200 years. The World outside The United States is most certainly beautiful. There are wonderful cultures to explore, and interesting people to meet, and learn from. But there are very bad things outside the US. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are vast, and our all volunteer, and at times drafted men and women of the US Armed forces do their best to keep the people who wish to see The United States to fail, for one reason or other, off our shores. Our nation is a young nation compared to the rest of the world. In Mexico tyrants, thugs, and criminals rule, Mexico’s people flee to The US for a chance at a better life. During WWII people fled to America because their countries came under attack from tyrants. All of Europe has been invaded by conquering armies for all of recorded history. Don’t think it can’t happen here. Even elected officials can turn on their people. Instead of taking chunks out of your freedoms, stand behind those freedoms. Instead of looking for the government to protect us, realize that we are supposed to be governing ourselves!!! That means taking possession of your own fears, and taking care of yourself. Instead of living in fear TAKE CONTROL. Don’t get caught up in the raging waters of fear brought on by the media. Pay attention to the things outside the view of the press. What is the government trying to turn your attention away from? When we fight amongst ourselves, instead of living together, we become easy to control. You often hear me speaking out on not allowing gun control, or saying that recreational use of marijuana should be decriminalized. You will hear me saying that people should feel free to burn the American flag any time they want, for whatever reason, and you will hear me talking about the rights for homosexuals to marry. while I may not agree with the way others live their lives, I will ALWAYS do what I can to protect their rights to live as they choose, because that is how our nation was formed. God help us all America, because for some reason, we don’t seem to be able to help ourselves any more.

Doug Alley

About Doug Alley

I grew up in Bath, Maine in an upper lower class family with 3 step sisters, a step brother, and a little sister. After high school I spent 3 years serving in the USAF at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage AK. I've competed in, and won, demolition derbies. I've competed in, and never won, stock car races. I am the 47-year-old father of an 11-year-old boy who is pretty sure he is smarter than I ever was. We live on a little less than an acre of land in a 1973 mobile home in Stetson with my wife Jen, some cats, a few chickens, and rabbits, and a couple of goats. I hunt, fish, camp out, dabble in photography, gardening, and I cook in variable degrees of near success.