I was hiking through Garden of the God’s park this weekend and I saw an old man wearing a t-shirt that said “I’m a Republican because I believe in Freedom.” I see and hear these statements all that time from the right. They tell me if I’m not a Republican I’m a communist. There’s always talking about how they’re about to lose their freedom. So as I walked through the park I tried to think about all the freedoms they want to protect. I made a mental list and the following was my thought process:
1. It’s not the freedom to choose. Evidently I don’t have the freedom to make decisions about the health and welfare of my own body. If Republicans had their way, they would decide that for me.
2. It’s not the freedom of Speech. The leading Republican candidate has stated many times that he will expand the libel laws so if someone is critical of The President they will be jailed and fined. In fact in all the Republican rallies they limit press access to a pen as far away as they possibly can from the candidates.
3. It’s not freedom of religion. According to the Republican platform Christianity is the only true faith. In fact they want to keep me out of the country if I practice another.
4. It’s not freedom for quarters of soldiers. Republicans and conservatives have consistently upheld and supported measures that would allow law enforcement to enter a home without warrant, and without warning. In modern parlance they are called “no knock orders.”
5. It’s not freedom from search or seizure. Republicans in many states, most notably Iowa, can seize property on your person and keep it without warrant or due process. They only have to “suspect” it might be used in a crime.
6. It’s not freedom of privacy. Republicans support unwarranted surveillance of my personal communications. They’ve even demanded the extradition of whistle blowers who have provided clear evidence of invasion of privacy violations committed by the U.S. Government both inside and outside our boarders.
7. It’s not freedom from war. If it were up to the Republicans we’d bomb every country in on the planet for no other reason than they don’t agree with us. They’re willing to go to war for so little provocation and disguise it as protecting our freedom. The problem is when you smack a hornets’ nest you don’t reduce your chances of getting stung, you increase them.
8. It’s not freedom from being poisoned. Republicans want to remove the laws and regulations which surround food safety, air quality, drug safety, and any regulation that has to do with the products I consume or use.
9. It’s not freedom from being killed by faulty products. Republicans want to remove any regulation that inhibits manufacturers from making products that would impose life threatening dangers for me and my family. For instance regulations for automobiles, toys, construction, bridges, roads, and any other product I might use in everyday life.
10. It’s not the freedom to have a quality education. At every turn they remove funding for public education and install some of the worst policies which every leading educator say don’t work.
I could go on, but really the only freedom the care about is the freedom to own a gun. I guess they think that’s all the freedom that is important in the world. Because if you have a gun then you don’t need the government to protect you. We can remove all those other pesky freedoms and just live by the rule of the most powerful. The problem is that’s not freedom. That’s anarchy.