by Brent Johnson
These days, more people than ever are discussing freedom. Politicians regularly say that in the united States of America, people are more free than anywhere else in the world. In the United Kingdom, millions of people are protesting at the lack of freedom and infringements on free speech. Independent media regularly talk about issues concerning personal freedom. Freedom is being hailed as a great principle on which wars are fought, lives are lost, and the future of Man depends.
Yet like so much in today’s world of upside-down values and rampant propaganda, the meaning of freedom is often lost to obscurity, in favor of using it as a tool to promote greater control over the world’s population.
Perhaps it is time for a step back; we need to take a healthy look at what freedom actually means, and why it is so valuable to us all.
Most people would use as an example of freedom, the fact that “I can get in my car and go where I want.” However, isn’t it true that you cannot drive your car without a license issued by the government? A license is permission - frequently issued by the government - to do something that without a license would be illegal. If a license is required then you are not free to drive your car.
Many people would defend their freedom because “I am free to do what I want on my own property.” However, you pay property taxes on your property. If you own it and are therefore free to do with it what you wish, then why are you paying taxes on it? Furthermore, if you do not pay the property taxes assessed by the government, then your property can and will be taken away from you. Additionally, zoning regulations tell you what you may and may not do with your property. That is not freedom.
“I get to say what I want when I want to say it.” That is what many people believe when it comes to freedom. However, in many countries people are being jailed for saying something that offends somebody else. That is also not freedom.
I could give numerous examples that challenge the commonly held definition of freedom. That being the case, what exactly is freedom?
Firstly, freedom is not about the freedom to “do” something, because whatever it is you seek to do, there is always someone seeking to regulate or control that act. Rather, freedom is about the freedom “from” something.
The American Revolutionists fought a bloody war to establish freedom for all people in the newly created united States of America (uSA). The foundation of the uSA was written down in the 1776 Declaration of Independence, in which it weas clearly stated, “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
The first and most significant statement in the Declaration is that we are endowed by our Creator. In other words, our fundamental Rights come not from the king or government but from God.
This is critically important and ultimately significant. Prior to the Declaration of Independence, all countries were ruled by the king (or whatever system was established by the existing government); and the king was considered to rule by God. The king’s word was therefore law, and the king (or government) could do whatever he (or she or it) wanted, without restriction. This led to tyrannies and major violations of individual freedom.
The united States of America was established - for the first time in history - as a country in which the individual Rights of the people were granted to them directly by God… not the king or the government. This was unheard of at the time. It was a brand new concept, which may be one of the reasons that people today do not appreciate the value of freedom.
Our Rights - and the Rights of everybody on this planet - come from God; and as a result, those Rights are unalienable - meaning unchangeable. They can never be taken away. You can lose your arms and you can lose your legs, but you can never lose your Rights. No king or government has the power to deprive you of your Rights… ever.
The Declaration states that these principles are “self-evident”, meaning they do not need to be proven; nobody needs to show evidence that he or she is entitled to fundamental Rights given by God. The fact of God-given Rights is universally accepted as being true.
We are regularly told by political officials - who seek to control everyone and effectively rule their portion of the world - that the first duty of government is to keep you safe. Why do you believe that and how do you know it is true?
If the government had a duty to keep you safe, then the government would be empowered to do anything it deemed necessary to make that happen. That is not freedom.
Remember that before the establishment of the united States of America, all countries had a two-class system in which the nobility ruled the country, made the laws and owned all of the property. Commoners could not participate in the making of law, nor could they own their own land.
This was addressed in the Declaration of Independence at the beginning, where it said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women) are created equal…”
This does not mean we are all the same; this does not mean we all need to be paid the same or that anyone can do any job. It means that there are no class distinctions. There is no standard in which the nobles rule and the commoners obey. We are all noble; or more correctly, We the People are the nobles and government officials are our servants. That is what is meant by the self-evident principle that we are all created equal.
Freedom actually means freedom from government control. That is what freedom is. The Declaration of Independence, which is the foundational document of the united States of America, specifically identifies your freedom as a Right “endowed by your Creator”. Freedom is a Gift from God, and nobody has the power or right to interfere with the gifts you have been given by your Creator.
God - the Supreme Creator of all things - has given you the Rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The Right to Life means that you are entitled - meaning free - to live your life without government interference, because it is a Celestial Gift given by a Power that is greater than any manmade thing, including any government. It is your life, and you have the absolute Right to live it as you see fit. You do not need to ask permission to live free from government control. You have the fundamental Right to defend and protect your life, which is the greatest Gift you have been given by your Creator.
The Right to Liberty means that you are entitled - meaning free - to live your life free from government interference or control. It is your liberty, and you have the absolute Right to exercise your freedom as you see fit. You do not need to ask permission to be free from government control. You have the fundamental Right to be free, which is one of the greatest Gifts you have been given by your Creator.
The Right to the Pursuit of Happiness means that you are entitled - meaning free - to own property without any government interfering with or controlling it. It is your property, and you have the absolute Right to use the property you own as you see fit. You do not need to ask permission to own property outside of government control. You do not need to pay taxes or agree to usage restrictions in order to own property, You have the fundamental Right to own property, which is one of the greatest Gifts you have been given by your Creator.
Most people would argue with this definition of freedom. 20th Century American statesman Dresden James wrote, “They rattle their chains to boast of their freedom.”
Most people would say that it is necessary to have government regulate the rights of the people. Otherwise, society would fall into a state of chaos. It is necessary to pay taxes to the government because that pays for the roads, the education of our children, the police and fire departments, environmental regulations, health care, food stamps, unemployment insurance and workmen’s compensation, and the endless list of social programs promoted by government.
Most people would agree with that assessment, too.
I am not most people.
The Declaration of Independence clearly defines the purpose of government. Just after the sacred words, “… Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…” is the defining purpose of all governments; “…To secure these Rights, governments are instituted…”
In other words, the purpose of government is to secure the free exercise of our God-given, Creator-endowed unalienable Rights… and to do nothing else.
Neither the Declaration nor the subsequently adopted Constitution for the united States of America say anything that allows for the government to feed the hungry, provide health care for the sick, educate the children, pay people for not working, put out fires, exert dictatorial control over people’s behavior, and punish the people for not obeying their orders, or do any of the endless list of things that governments have decided for themselves they are authorized to do.
This may be difficult for most of you to read and comprehend, but it is the absolute, God’s-honest Truth. I invite you to show me if you can find anywhere in the Declaration of Independence where it authorizes any government to do any of those things I just mentioned. Neither does the Constitution empower government to do those things.
I know… you want the government to take care of you if you need help, because that way other people - most of whom you do not know - will pay for your care. Such a system is Communist in nature; such a system is Marxist; such a system is Socialist. Such a system is both unAmerican and unfree.
Freedom means freedom from government control. You cannot both be free from government control and also have the government tax money from people - who may be less well-off than you - and give it to you.
George Bernard Shaw wrote, “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.”
During the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, its slogan was, “Workers of the world unite!” Of course, it had the support of the workers of the world.
Socialism (including Communism and Marxism) promotes the principle that everybody should pay into a central pot, and anyone may take from that pot at any time. “From each according to his means, to each according to his needs” is the slogan for all socialist systems. Such a system does not encourage or reward hard work; it does not value the property you own because it considers each of you to be obligated to provide for all the people, so your property actually belongs to everyone. There is no incentive to work hard because you do not get to keep the fruit of your labor. This is the system that has existed for thousands of years and still exists today in most parts of the world. The united States of America provided a new and distinctly different social system than was ever seen in our world; in which each of us was free to live his or her life, work hard so that he or she could own property and therefore make life more rewarding.
A social system that values freedom and fundamental rights is the antithesis of a social system that requires everyone to pay into a pot from which anyone can take what is there. The two systems are mutually exclusive. They cannot both exist in the same system. Each of you must decide in which system you wish to live.
In a socialist system, there is no freedom. The government controls what people can do. what people can own, and what people can say. There is no incentive to work hard because if you do work hard then what you earn is taken from you to support those who have less than you; and it is the government that dictates how the pot is divided among the people.
In a constitutional Republic like the uSA, each individual has God-given Rights that no government can ever take away or regulate, and the property one owns as a result of the hard work of each of us belongs to us, is not taken from us, and is not given to others unless each of us decides to give a gift of charity. The government has no power and no say in redistributing the wealth of such a Republic.
If you are to truly live free then you must develop a genuine value for the Gift of God that is your freedom. Once you learn to value your freedom, you will do anything to protect and defend it. Until you learn to value your freedom you will do little to protect or defend it.
The reason there exist today countries in which the government dictates how the people will live (which include most countries on earth) is because the people - and there are far more of them than there are government officials - do not value their freedom enough to protect and defend it from attack.
When people genuinely value their God-given Gift of freedom, they do whatever is necessary to protect it. The simple solution to the problems our freedoms face today is to stop complying with governments that treat you like you are their property; that you are subject to their will.
I do not recognize any government as ruling over me. I am sovereign because I am the child of my Creator, who is the Supreme Sovereign of the universe. That means I am literally part of the Royal Family. I am the king of my life… not subject to anyone’s dictates.
The same is true for you. You are the king or queen of your life… not subject to government edicts.
The problems occur because you have decided that you want the government - which is your natural servant – to “take care of you”. Since the government was not established to do that, acts of government taking care of you lie outside of the normal state of affairs. The Constitution does not empower the government to take care of you, which means that in order for the government to do something it is not authorized to do, it must first establish a venue from which it enters into agreements with the people to provide benefits that the organic government is not empowered to provide.
To this end, the federal and state governments in the uSA (and pretty much everywhere else in the world) have incorporated; they have created corporations from which to offer We the People its “benefits”. These corporations are not part of the country that was created by the Declaration of Independence and empowered by the Constitution for the united States of America. The corporate charter allows the corporate government do all kinds of things that the true government cannot do.
It is through the corporate government that food stamps are issued, public schools are established to teach (i.e. indoctrinate) your children, real property is regulated and zoned, people are paid when they do not work, licenses and permits are issued, etc.
Since you are asking the government to do what it was never created to do, you must first agree to become subject to the corporate government’s terms and conditions before its benefits are made available to you. The first of those terms and conditions is you must waive your God-given Rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The reason for this required waiver is simple: the government will not allow people who are free to make their own decisions to enjoy the “central pot” created by the corporate government. In other words, if you want what we offer then you must first agree to allow us to have absolute control over you. In other words, you must surrender your freedom if you wish to have the corporate government take care of you.
That is the price of accepting government benefits; the cost is your God-given Gift of freedom.
Now that you have a clear understanding of the cost to your freedom that government benefits entail, the question you need to ask yourself is, “What am I willing to do to protect and defend my freedom?” You might follow up that question with, “What am I NOT willing to do to protect and defend my freedom?”
I am sure that many of you will explain that you need the government’s help to survive; that you cannot endure without the benefits provided by the corporate government. While I do not believe that is true - you have never given your freedom a chance, after all - most of you probably do not have faith in your abilities - as a sovereign (child of God), which is why you are so willing to waive your Rights in favor of their benefits.
My view is that nothing is more valuable than the Gifts that your Creator has given you… nothing. To me that means I am willing to do ANYTHING to protect and defend my Freedom, and there is nothing ai am unwilling to do to protect and defend my Freedom.
The Rights with which your Creator has endowed you are a Celestial Gift. They are that valuable.
I am confident that you now have a clear picture of the cost of accepting benefits from the corporate government. Therefore, I ask you again…
What are you willing to do to protect and defend your freedom; and what are you NOT willing to do to protect and defend your freedom?
Your answer determines your future. Are you going to live free or as a slave?
Brent Johnson is Director of Freedom Bound International, a common law service center dedicated to the preservation of personal freedom, privacy rights and the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. He may be reached at 1-888-385-FREE or on-line at www.freedomradio.us.
