Freedom Revisited

2000-11-10 08:34:00

My guide to being a great writer:
(1) Write easy-to-understand and interesting words in a language a child can understand.
(2) No number two necessary

My physical handicap has also been the source of much more discrimination in my life than any minority or woman I know experiences.

The thing that irritates me most about my handicap is when some show pity, feel sorry for me or expect any lower performance out of me than anyone else.

Being fired or discriminated against did not diminish by a micron my desire to allow people to do whatever they want within their own domain. If someone owns a business and they have doubts about my ability and want someone else in what could be a dangerous job that is their right. I would be wrong to infringe on that freedom. Instead of whining about the problem, suing or seeking affirmative action I sought to solve the problem which is what I did to the advantage that I experienced considerable growth over the ordeal.

The thief can steal a man's life savings and claim he did a good thing because he is now has more "freedom" to make investments and take care of his family. But freedom obtained by force, or the taking away the freedom of another is a terrible violation of the principle I have taught numerous times.

In the old South many fought to keep the principle of slavery alive because it gave the taskmasters more "freedom."

This idea is not that much different from the current idea of increasing taxes on those who have, to give to those who have not. This causes those who have to "slave" away harder to fulfill their dreams and causes those who have not to become lazy and miss the joy of accomplishing something on their own.

You paint big business as a big enemy of the people, but I have never had a big business steal a penny from me I was unwilling to give.

Let us take big oil for instance. They go to great risk and investment to deliver to me gasoline for my car which I am happy to buy.

Back in 1960 I we paid $.39 a gallon for gas and $.10 for a comic, $.05 for a coke out of a machine and a new car was about $1900. We also paid no sales tax.

Today most comics are at least $2.00 and not as good as the old ones. If gas had gone up twenty times we would be paying $7.80 a gallon. It sounds like big oil has done a better job at keeping prices in line that has small comic.

Most coke machines now charge $.75 out of a machine. That is a 1500% increase and if gas was in line with this then the cost would be $5.85 per gallon.

The point is that we should be consider ourselves fortunate that we pay under $2.00 a gallon for fuel and I think big oil deserves a pat on the back for what they have accomplished here.

Oil companies average a profit of about $.10 a gallon on gas, but the government here in the U.S. takes over $.50. In other countries the take is $2.00 or more. So I ask - who should we make into the bad guy (if we need to have one) - big oil or big government?

Which one takes from us whether we want to give or not?

Big government. Big oil has never taken anything from me.

Which one provides me with a product that allows me greater freedom?

Big oil sells me fuel which I happily buy and this give me much more freedom than I would have without it.

Big government does provide some services, but I have little choice in my acceptance or non acceptance of them.

The funny thing about freedom is that if you ask anyone if they believe in it they will emphatically answer yes. But unfortunately, for the majority, freedom to them means freedom for the tiny individual self, even if it comes at the expense of the loss of freedom of others or damage to the whole of a group with a different belief system.

It would be nice if those who demand more from their country than they are willing to give, even at the expense of freedom, would all live in their own little country to see how they would fare for themselves without the responsible freedom loving people.

Nevertheless, it is true that sharing and service will become principles of salvation for the coming age, but these will become manifest through free will with much more power than good-through-force as encouraged by government.

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."
Albert Einstein