Because your not god.
Seriously mobulis, can you not do better?
After all these years and thousands of examples you really have to ask?
There was a time in Texas when people understood what it meant to be free and appreciated it.
There is an old story about a Ranger that was wounded fighting Indians or Mexicans, I forget which.
The doctor had to remove either an arrow or bullet from him, so he told the man’s comrades to hold him down in case he woke up.
They refused, saying they would not restrain a free man without his permission. Consent of the governed?
Now I don’t know if it’s true, it’s in at least two of my books.
There was a time when a man worked and scraped to get a place, which he then had to defend against all comers. Maybe we don’t care anymore because now all it takes is a 700 and a few signatures. We don’t really own it anyway. After it’s paid off, we spend the rest of our lives renting it from the government.
Freedom is an interesting word. Free from. Liberty to.
Which is more important?
Old English freodom "power of self-determination, state of free will
The suffix “dom” means state of.
“Free” comes from the Old English “freo”- exempt from; not in bondage, acting of one’s own will
Definitions from The Online Etymology Dictionary.
A state and acting of one’s own will.
The purpose of government is to control: to restrain. To limit.
Can there be two more antithetical concepts than freedom and government?
govern (v.)
late 13c., "to rule with authority," from Old French governer “steer, be at the helm of; govern, rule, command, direct” (11c., Modern French gouverner), from Latin gubernare “to direct, rule, guide, govern” (source also of Spanish gobernar, Italian governare), originally “to steer, to pilot,” a nautical borrowing from Greek kybernan “to steer or pilot a ship, direct as a pilot,” figuratively “to guide, govern”
Was the idea for us to be ruled, commanded and directed?
Government is at it’s best a necessary evil.
Would that we treated it as such.
Pretty much the whole point in this country and most of western Europe in the post WWII era has been to make as many people dependent on gov’t for the basics of life to ensure it is no longer seen as such.
In one of FDR’s most famous speeches he said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” as everybody has heard many times. At the time, that line only got moderate applause, but when he said he would need extra presidential powers like those of a wartime president to deal with the effects of the depression he got absolute thunderous applause. They were practically begging him to personally take over the govt. Say what you will about FDR but a lesser man could have made a major power grab right then, the “governed” were screaming their consent to be ruled.
He did make a massive power grab. He went toe to toe with the SCOTUS for example and threatened to load the court with new appointees if they would not cave into his demands. They caved.
At that moment, they wanted a benevolent dictator, it was in the palm of his hand.
That would be a pretty good summation of how he governed throughout his entire presidency.
The freedom you want cannot be found if you live in a society with other people in it.
Uh, he did.
He tried to convince Congress to add a new justice for every one over 70 who refused to retire up to a max of 15 justices.
And they got a socialist dictator.
Better. Why not?
Because you have to think about other people, which you don’t want to do.
Who says?
What do other people have to do with what I do on my property?
