By Jake Sallerson
To be an American is to be an individual, free from the constraints of what others view, think, say and feel, free from conforming to other’s beliefs or the command of rule from on high.
Yet, is not the opposite precisely how we live our lives?
Aligning with certain identifiers places us into boxes of definition explaining what makes us not unique but exactly like the rest of our peers. To be an American today is to be a Democrat or a Republican: To be for things or against them. To be black or white.
It's not to be a person, certainly not a free-thinking one.
Having taken the notion of freedom, a thought experiment never before tried in modern human history, we have whittled away all the creative measures encouraging us to be free.
Freedom cannot stand against things. That denies the meaning of its value.
Freedom is you being you without me or others saying you cannot. There are basic laws of civic nature we agree must be upheld to maintain a balanced and functional society, such as not being free to harm another individual nor infringing upon their freedoms or discriminating against one group of people over another, etc.
In 2017, America stands ready to annihilate the freedoms (and those of others) endowed upon us by individuals who understood what it meant not to be free. Those Individuals did something like the people of this time standing against the corporate, evil and oligarchic rule of leadership. Inconceivable. And yet an unorganized group of ordinary immigrants bound by a common purpose did it.
Today, freedom is something you buy at a store. Freedom is something you see when you turn on your television. Freedom is no longer yours. Freedom now belongs to America and her ever-watchful omnipotent eyes and ears making sure that you do exactly as you should. And you believe that you are free because you’re told you are.
Did anyone tell George Washington or the 55 who stood with him in Philadelphia in 1787 that they were free? Or the Continental Congress of 1775, when they told the greatest empire of all time that they were now free? They took what was rightfully theirs from birth. Will you roll over and allow the tyrants of old to manifest themselves in new faces with new methods of control dictating what and who you shall be in this life?
It's time to make a change.
One-third of the population wanted a country. The rest saw a national or federal government too similar to the monarchy they had just vanquished a few years earlier in the Revolutionary War. One-third freedom formed by one-third.
The truth is, it was formed secretly by 55 delegates from 12 colonies (Rhode Island abstained) designing what would eventually become the United States Constitution.
Instead of holding these individuals accountable for essentially forcing would-be Americans to accept this version of freedom, we revere these 55 and applaud them.
Above all else this constitution embodied freedom and equality. It had imperfections but for its time was unprecedented and revolutionary – a concept understood by few with no comprehension how to implement such a concept.
The idea was everyone was (sort of) equal and had the right to vote along with inalienable rights endowed upon them by their creators. We know these as our Bill of Rights, what grants us freedom today.
This new nation had the opportunity to explore a notion not tried anywhere else in history except perhaps Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Instead of capitalizing upon this gift, we have squandered our freedoms into oblivion. We let our two-thirds majority disinterest decide and control our fate.
We elect our owners, leaders not representing you as designed. Representing themselves, their "parties" or their owners, they control every facet of your existence because you empower them to do so.
You enable them power to take freedom after freedom until you are a product of the government's control, under constant scrutiny from every known agency, corporation or party who wants to make sure you don't get out of line. And, guess what? You put them there!
From the moment they ran for office you didn't mind if they made decisions for you, as long as the only choice you had to make was which box to check or which name to write in; you were satisfied with the outcome because you knew it meant you wouldn't have to participate.
And slowly they took from you. They took your money. They took your liberty and they took everything making you free. You no longer have a choice or a say in your own democracy.
When this country formed, leaders were people who operated as a vessel for the people. It was considered an honor and a service.
But herein lies the rub; back then, the elected did not make decisions. The people made decisions: Communities. Town halls. Discussion took place and decisions reached. And the representative carried that decision to other towns.
Today, your representative decides what your future will be. Deciding what you will pay in taxes. They decide what your town, your state and your country will spend. And decide if your country goes to war. They decide. Not you.
You gave them that power and they have abused it. Not because they are evil, but because they don't understand their role as representatives. They think they are supposed to make decisions. But they couldn’t be more wrong.
You make decisions. They listen. At least that's what America was supposed to be.
Ask yourself, do "I" want Donald Trump to become the standard for politicians? Because many more, many worse than he, will follow.
Ask me how I know?
Look at how we allowed our current version of politician to take over what was designed to be your responsibility as an American. As a free human. You gave it to them. And now they are giving it to him.
Take it back. Or lose it forever.
Sallerson lives in Warren.
