Fear vs Freedom

Fear again. If you want to control someone, all you have to do is make them feel afraid.” Charles Eisenst

Fear: to be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening. Fear is the most controlling emotion that we have. It can make us do things we would never do normally.

The bully controls people with fear. Criminals use it to intimidate. Out of fear witnesses refuse to come forward to testify against them. Street gangs shake down business owners for protection money. If the owner refuses they begin breaking merchandise until out of fear the store owner meets their demands. Abusive spouses use fear to control their mates. In areas of high crime whole communities live in fear. Governments use fear to control its citizens. Hitler was a master at using fear. He used “Brown Shirts” to instill fear in the citizens. They are infamous for their operations outside of the law. The rest is history.

One can overcome their fear of the dark, of heights, of clowns etc. but when one fears for their life it is a much more difficult.

So what do we do? All of the above prey upon the weak. Courage and strength can be found in numbers. If all the victims of the bully were to unite and face off against the bully they could defeat him. Business owners could unite and organize to run the street gangs out of their area. Communities can organize and take to the streets and take their communities away from the criminals that caused them to live in fear. Citizens need to organize and join together to defeat the tyrannical government. The colonists did just that and the United States of America was created.

I am in no way advocating it will be easy. We have to find the courage to take action. Courage trumps fear. It takes a lot of courage but the ultimate reward is freedom. Nothing in life comes easy but it is better than living in fear.

If you are living in fear you need to weigh your options carefully. Do your homework and don’t go off half cocked. You have to decide if you have the courage to change things. Examine your resources. Devise a plan and stick to it. Once you put the wheels in motion you can’t turn back. You have to finish what you started.

Happy Fourth of July

 

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Liberty: the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views.

On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence.  For the next two days congress focused on the writing of the Declaration of Independence.  On July 4, 1776 it was approved and there have been celebrations ever since.

On this day I would like to share with you some of my favorite quotes that pertain to this day.  It is a day that should never be taken too lightly.  Just like life it can be gone in a blink of an eye.  Protect your rights.

“I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited.  There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: as government expands, liberty contracts.” – Ronald Reagan

I really feel in today’s society people have a tough time wrapping their minds around the meaning of what our former POTUS was saying.

“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” – Benjamin Franklin

This my friends is why it is so important to protect the “freedom of speech”.  Benjamin Franklin had enough insight to understand this.

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“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

A perfect example of this, in my opinion anyway, is the TSA.  Our government has made it a nightmare to travel by air.

“When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty.” John Basil Barnhill

Pretty much self explanatory.

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“Those who nourish the hope that it will be possible to keep central +government free of the corrupting tendencies of power and to staff it with a freedom loving elite, overestimate the virtues of both the  electorate and the elected, and underestimate the normative power of structural processes even over well-intended functionaries.” – Robert Neff

All too obvious in our political system.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone out there.  I didn’t mean to put such a downer on today’s holiday.  As you celebrate today remind yourself it is about much more than fireworks.  We lose more of our freedoms every year.  It is time to stop the bleeding.  I leave you with some lyrics from Janis Joplin, Me and Bobby McGee.  “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.  Nothin’ don’t mean nothin’ hon’ if it ain’t free…..”

I hope you enjoyed my post today.  Thank you for taking the time to read it.  Spread the love!