Thursday, December 1, 2011

Simple Truth: Liberty is hard, and subjugation is easy.

There is a cost for everything.  The cost of Liberty is the shouldering of personal responsibility.  The cost of subjugation is your humanity.

Illustration:
Imagine a man faced with two choices.  On the one hand is a life of plenty.  A job, a house, food on the table, everything he "wants" is his for the taking.  All he has to do is give up the ability to make some of his own choices.  He will be told where to live, he'll be told where to work, and he'll be told what to eat.  On the other hand is a life of hardship.  He'll have a chance for a house, but it won't be guaranteed.  He'll have a chance to be richer than Croesus, but he may instead live in poverty.  He might have so much food he'll have to give it away before it goes bad, but he might live in hunger, little more than a beggar.

Explanation:
This is the choice between subjugation and liberty.  The first man is a subject, at best.  At worst, he is a slave.  He may have plenty to eat, a warm bed, and relatively useful employ, but he has no choices, no chances, and no future.  There is no chance for him to grow; no chance for him to become "the next..." anything.  The second man is a free man.  His life and path are his own to choose.  He may not have food, but then again, he may.  He may live in a cheap apartment, or he may live in a lavish mansion.  He may be unemployed, or may be the owner of his own, successful, business.

Today's neo-Marxists would have you believe that the first man is better off.  "See?" they say, "Come with us, and you will wont for nothing.  We will feed you, clothe you, house you."  But there is a cost for everything.  It was not men with nothing to gain who invented the automobile, the electric light, the telegraph and telephone, the rubber tire, penicillin, acetaminophen, nylon, Teflon, or those little dangly air fresheners you hang in your car.  Or fuzzy dice. Whatever.  It was men who could determine their own destinies.  It was men who knew that they would be rewarded -that they would profit- from their discoveries and inventions.

Even explorers did not explore for some love of country, or some form of altruism.  They explored because they believed they could become rich, or that they would be rewarded.  Sometimes they explored because they believed they could gain something- that same Freedom that would let them starve.

It may seem that the way of ease is better.  Indeed, many would choose it freely.  But the world has been made better by those who chose Liberty, and only those with Liberty are ever able to become successful.

9 comments:

  1. One of my friends, a Civil War buff, has a poster with a story on it about a runaway slave. He meets two men who ask him about why he ran away. The slave confirms he was well fed, sheltered, treated kindly, etc. The punch line is something to the effect of "All I can say is, if you gentlemen are interested, the position is available!"

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  2. Ahh, that new blog smell. Apropos inaugural post Allen. Added you to my my daily check-in. Been toying with the idea of starting my own blog, so this is inspiring.

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  3. Today's neo-Marxists would have you believe that the first man is better off. "See?" they say, "Come with us, and you will wont for nothing. We will feed you, clothe you, house you."

    What the government gives you, the government can take away.

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  4. Obama is a stuttering clusterf**k of a miserable failure.

    What? I thought the post needed something.

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  5. Under a king, the first man could be a slave. Under Euro-Obamaism, the first man is a child. If you free a child, what happens? Tantrums, mostly. Maybe some shitting on the sidewalks. Not sure how they can ever grow up.

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  6. @t-bird: Children only grow up when Mom and Dad aren't doing everything for them anymore. I didn't "grow up" until I was in my 20s.

    Of course, that doesn't make the process any easier, but the fact they'll throw tantrums makes it no less necessary, either.

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  7. I would rather starve to death unclothed under the hot sun than trade my freedom for food, finery, and a mansion.

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  8. Nice post and good luck with the blog. I think I've always enjoyed your comments, but I may be confusing you with someone who's comments I've always enjoyed.

    Oh... and only because I don't have your email, I would like to humbly suggest dark text on a light background.

    Light on dark, while sharp and extra manly, has a tendency to be headache inducing. It's just the way it is.

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  9. 9th!!

    Seriously, what happens when some well-fed, comfortable beast in the zoo sees his door left open? HE RUNS TO ESCAPE!! FOR FREEDOM!!

    Are human beings less desirous of liberty than a leopard, or a gibbon? Less deserving?

    Congrats and a long, active future to you, D1/10ther!

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