Thoughts On Freedom

What is the greatest threat to the United States of America? To answer this question we first have to define what we mean by the US.

There's the geographical entity of course. But there's not much chance of anyone stealing that.

There's the stars and stripes. But this isn't anything really but a pattern of colors. Any meaning could be assigned to it. And the government of the US could possibly be usurped at any time by radicals with extreme ideologies that change its very nature, at which time Old Glory would stand for something completely different.

The working definition that I will use here then will be that represented by freedom, democracy and responsibility. And the aspect of the US I will be addressing here will be freedom. The f word.

What does freedom mean?

First of all we must clarify that freedom ends where it begins to encroach on the freedom of others. Thus we are not free to steal, rape or murder.

Related to the above, freedom also does not mean you're allowed to not meet your responsibilities (assuming you have the phyiscal and mental capacity to meet them). These responsibilities include but are not unique to the following.

• You shouldn't commit crimes against your co citizens.
  
• Don't steal.
• Don't rape.
• Don't coerce
  
• If you are going to use the public roads you should pay your share (pay your taxes).
• If you're going to attend public meetings indoors you should use proper hygeine.
  
• If you live in an apartment building with thin walls you shouldn't play industrial music at high decibel levels at 3 AM.
• If you are going to complain abould the government you should vote.

So far I've only covered the aspects of freedom that limit what you are able to do. Next I'll talk about what I think you should be free from.

• Having to pay more than your share of taxes.
• Having to be a certain religion (or any religion at all, including belief in general).
• Having to dress a certain way (this freedom ends the minute you arrive at a work place, however, where you've agreed to behave a certain way in return for your livelihood).

So in answer to the initial question of this post, the greatest threat to the United States comes not from the outside as is popularly supposed, but from inside forces determined to undermine the rights of other citizens by forcing their moral values on them.

All citizens of the United States have a huge stake in maintaining their freedom. The above described points, I believe, can help preserve that freedom through time.