Continuing from my last post, I was reflecting on why people just don't seem to care about the increase in size and interference of government in their daily lives. At first, I must admit, I just thought people were stupid... they either didn't care, understand or cared to understand. I thought the Australian people were distracted by sport (the national religion) or raw entertainment on TV, DVDs, internet and did I mention sport?
I have now come to the conclusion that it is none of the above (at least directly). Individuals are rather clever people, and if you sat them down and reasonably explained things, they might start asking meaningful questions that would challenge the tyrannical laws that are often passed by the government. But people don't want to know, they don't want to care and sadly, they don't want to listen... not because we are stupid, but because we love Big Brother. Yes, we love Big Brother. We want the crushing warm arms of the state to embrace us, tuck us in at night and protect our crib like the spoiled babies that we are. We have made the historically fatal mistake of exchanging our physical, emotional and economic liberty in exchange of temporary security.
A guy called Benjamin Franklin said something about this (I love this quote): Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
This guy Franklin knew something about human beings and human action, we love to follow the path of least resistance... so you there, the man with the gun, keep me safe from harm and worry and I will care not for the cost; take the gun from me while I go about the business of pleasure. To contend not for liberty is to devalue it, and once it is devalued, it is lost. The freedom to defend yourself, the freedom of private property, the freedom of thought without vilification and prosecution, the freedom of religious expression, the freedom of money that is not seized by the government... this is worth contending for.
Practical: How do you defend freedom and liberty in this country? How do you fight the idea of legalized and loved tyranny? Simple, not easy, but simple... fight it with another idea. The battle must be fought intellectually and culturally and you must dare to do what they FEAR the most: think for yourself.
God bless,
Dr Washo
Regular folks are remiss in that they never as much question the extent of government power. We live in an entitlement society - most would agree that government isn’t doing enough! 12.5% pay increase is not enough for Queensland teachers. Two stimulus packages are not enough for the unions - calling for stimulus 3 to target jobs alone. John Howard has created a nightmare of entitlement amongst the middle class with his handouts for babies and families. Now there are calls for government funded parental leave. I don’t hear people questioning where the money comes from - particularly since the government is already tapped out.
One of the problems with getting the message out about freedom is that there are many faces and differences of opinion within the freedom movement. What should be the extent of government power? Is taxation theft? Should fractional reserve banking be illegal?