By Isaac Davis
Independence, liberty, freedom. Ideas worth celebrating, for sure, only intangible constructs of the human mind, therefore, their meanings can change along with the times. And since people are extremely adaptable creatures, we rapidly normalize to ever-evolving societal and cultural conditions and values. What people consider to be ‘freedom’ today, is nothing similar to what it was even a couple of generations ago.
Here are 4 celebrated, historical liberties that people have long enjoyed, yet are undergoing a dramatic metamorphosis in an evolving world.
1. ) The Freedom to Travel
The idea that human beings should be free to roam the earth without permission or threat is now dated. Prior to the 1930s you needn’t have a driver’s license to operate a motor vehicle or carriage in America. Traveling without a passport used to be commonplace as well.
[B]efore 1915 His Majesty’s Government did not require a passport for departure, nor did any European state require one for admittance except the two notoriously backward and neurotic countries of Russia and the Ottoman Empire. [Source]
Now, even recreational drivers are required to be commercially licensed, and in addition to a complex system of fees, fines, high-speed-chases and beat-downs, we are now watching the normalization of domestic checkpoints manned by armed and dangerous government employees.
Sobriety checkpoints — also known as DUI checkpoints — are the most common roadblocks you might encounter. They function as a general purpose investigatory tactic where police can get a close look at passing motorists by detaining them briefly. A roadblock stop is quick, but it gives police a chance to check tags and licenses, while also giving officers a quick whiff of the driver’s breath and a chance to peer into the vehicle for a moment. [Source]
2.) The Right to be Self-Sustaining
Living off the grid is the ultimate example of personal responsibility, but as government needs dependents in order to be relevant, the type of rugged, ingenious mind that once made America remarkable is being stamped out in a fog of rules, regulations, permits, codes and trade agreements. For those interested in cultivating true independence by homesteading or setting up a little offgrid outpost somewhere, it is increasingly difficult and expensive to comply with the State.
Look, if I want to build a yurt of rabbit skins and go to the bathroom in a compost pile, why is it any of the government’s business? Bureaucrats bend over backwards to accredit, tax credit, and offer money to people wanting to build pig city-factories or bigger airports. But let a guy go to his woods, cut down some trees, and build himself a home, and a plethora of regulatory tyrants descend on the project to complicate, obfuscate, irritate, frustrate, and virtually terminate. I think it’s time to eradicate some of these laws and the piranhas who administer them. – Joel Salatin
In some areas, people’s veggie gardens are being ripped up by over-zealous code enforcers, senior citizens are being fined thousands of dollars for not cutting their grass on time, individual rainwater collection is being prosecuted, and police are being called in to enforce mandatory connection to public utilities.
3.) Freedom of Speech
Supposedly one of the greatest rights bestowed upon Americans by the Constitution, increasingly, the right to speak your mind is under duress, by government, corporate policy makers, and a changing social climate. Sure, since the ’80s we’ve been trained to accept Free Speech Zones, where protesters could be shuffled out of sight and out of mind. Now, though, we’re entering an era of extreme political correctness and unabashed irrationality. People are increasingly unwilling to listen to what others have to say, and intolerance is being normalized under a cloak of phony diversity.
Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? – Orwell’s 1984
The way we communicate is rapidly changing, and corporations now have incredible power to shape our thoughts, as sites like Facebook have demonstrated. Our language can be molded and transformed by company policy, as forum rules and formats can change in accordance with investor motives. We no longer own our words or our conversations.
As social pressure continues to build upon indoctrination, the ability of people to civilly discuss differences in opinions is more strained. Add to this the general dumbing down of everything, and the climate is one of highly vocal intolerance. The liberty to openly speak in our society is being tested by personal crassness as much as it is by law.
Here’s an example of the kind of behavior that is now acceptable when some are in the presence of ideas they are unwilling to tolerate:
4.) The Right to Choose Your Own Medicine
Human beings have always had a symbiotic relationship with food and with plants, and medicine was always something taken directly from nature and combined with human intuition, wisdom and the intention to heal. The disruption of the balance between humans and nature, as initiated by consumer culture and corporate medicine, has taken a fundamental human right and is turning it into a privilege.
READ: Americans Argue Over Puppets While Global Masters Meet in Secrecy
The corporate overthrow of the concept of medicine, mass fear-hyping, and the war on drugs, are devastating to personal sovereignty. Mandatory vaccines, public water fluoridation, and the prohibition of plant medicines such as cannabis, ayahuasca and iboga, add up to a severely restricted perception of health and wellness, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
If you alone do not own your body, then who owns your body?
These medicines heal the cultural malaises of apathy and distractedness by re-introducing mystery and magic into life, and by liberating one’s consciousness from the confining prisons of the war on consciousness. They completely destroy the matrix of cultural programming, clearing space within the psyche for something new and positive to emerge. – Dylan Charles
Final Thoughts
Due to the inherent violence required to maintain the social-political order we have now, along with mass indoctrination of the public with extreme statist and corporatist ideologies, it is practically impossible for most people to imagine a world governed by voluntaryism, although it’s well-worth consideration for those enjoy the celebration of human liberty.
If, before undertaking some action, you must obtain the permission of society—you are not free, whether such permission is granted to you or not. Only a slave acts on permission. A permission is not a right. [Source]
Read more articles from Isaac Davis.
Isaac Davis is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com and OffgridOutpost.com Survival Tips blog. He is an outspoken advocate of liberty and of a voluntary society. He is an avid reader of history and passionate about becoming self-sufficient to break free of the control matrix. Follow him on Facebook, here.
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This article (4 Celebrated Freedoms that Now Require Permission or Privilege to Enjoy) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Isaac Davis and WakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.
I used to hear the silver tongued windbag Michael Medved challenge boobus americanus over call in radio to be specific on just what freedoms we think we’ve lost to our oath violating Gov.
I don’t hear that shill asking that particular question any longer?
Well done. Brilliant, and simple. The writer picked the same 4 freedoms I have talked about ceaselessly over the past 25 years. Gone. Gone, and no one seems to notice or care. So apathetic. There’s now an expression for it —-wait for it—-“Intentionally Indifferent”. Amazing. Americans have become so irresolutely indifferent to being free and having basic freedom. Not me, boy. Not me, girl. I want my freedoms, and I want them back. George Orwell (Eric Blair)’s 1984 is the Playbook, the roadmap, and instead of standing together against Big Brother, the sheeple are just crowding in, ready to give up the only thing worth fighting for. Today we learn that the big, bad FBI have caved in to walking away from all of the violations of national security a former Secretary of State committed because even the FBI agree that some are Above the Law. The FBI today just agreed that the Elites aren’t governed by the same laws that apply to the rest of us. The FBI are for sale. Is it in the drinking water? Is the FBI drinking the same Kool Aid that all the fascist Politically Correct drink? The FBI set up and engineer the bad deeds of the easy to hoodwink, then walk away from doing something when it really makes a difference for national security because they were bought and paid for.
You got away with it for now. In many states, the cops are coming in and forcing people off their own land. Don’t think that it worked now and will continue to work.
If the government can throw us off our land when we are harming no one and the taxes are current then we truly are nothing but involuntary servants to those running government. Fortunately in my case it is too politically risky for them to do that. Property rights do have big public support in our rural county. It’s always about politics, not the “law”.
Keep in mind I am breaking no law. They only have authority through their administrative codes which do not apply until I contract with them by applying for a permit. The law says I have to apply for a permit to install a septic system. There is no law that says I have to Install a system just that I have to get a permit so it is done correctly if I do put one in. You can see now why their order is to contract with them.
It’s just like when the first ‘whiteman’ came to America and told the indigenous people, “do it our way or we well wipe you out”. Now there’s a new ‘whiteman’ in town and he’s riding a Rothschild limo and telling the govt, “do it our way or we will wipe you out”. People need to open their eyes, but unfortunately I really feel it’s too late for Americans to ‘turn the tide’.
I still choose my own medicine. I haven’t seen a doctor since the mid 90’s and I will not, never, no how.
Synthetic drugs are poison.
Plenty of herbs, vitamins and minerals to choose from, elderberry works great for colds, especially before hand.
Hint: buy organic, eat organic, start a garden.
You forgot the right to peaceably assemble (permits required for protest, violates 1st), right to keep and bear arms (almost 100% of the 50,000 or so gun laws violates “shall not be infringed”), 4th, 5th and 10th for all intents and purposes don’t even exist anymore.