By Krista Kafer
Ultimately this election is not about who hangs out with domestic terrorists, who shops at Saks Fifth Avenue, or who thinks “jobs” is a three letter word. Ultimately, this election is about freedom and whether people are willing to give it away.
Freedom is the power to make choices about what we do with ourselves and our property and to experience the consequences. To put it a different way, you have a right to your possessions, talents, beliefs, ideas, and dreams and the right to express, use, invest, or squander them to your own success or peril. The purpose of government is to protect your freedom to do so as long as you do not rob others of the same. The government that takes from each according to his ability and gives to each according to his perceived needs, violates the liberty of both parties to make their own choices. By shielding people from the consequences of their actions, such a government no longer protects liberty, it suppresses it.
When politicians promise to give you free healthcare, a big house, a high paying job, childcare, cheap energy and all that you hope for, keep in mind that they do not have these things tucked away in some magic lockbox. What politicians promise to give to you, they intend to take from others. What they promise to give to others, they will take from you. Government cannot spread the wealth around without first confiscating it from those who earned it.
Our forefathers won by brave defiance what we are today poised to give away without a fight. Crowds applaud candidates like Barack Obama and Mark Udall, who have promised billions of dollars in new government programs and entitlements supported by high taxes. In addition to making up new “rights” to this or that, these candidates have made it clear through their words or previous votes, they do not intend to uphold citizens’ inalienable rights such as the right of self-protection.
Here in Colorado, politicians and special interest groups are lobbying voters to give up more of their own money to the government by passing two massive taxes increases (Amendments 58 and 59) while telling them to oppose amendments that would actually restore citizens’ basic freedoms. Amendment 46, for example, would prevent the government from discriminating against people because of their skin color or gender. Amendment 47 would restore an individual’s right to decide whether or not to pay dues to a union. Presently, workers are forced to pay the union if they want to keep their job. Amendment 49 would stop the government from collecting forced dues from public employees’ paychecks. If these amendments pass, individuals would be free to pursue their dreams without government discrimination or coercion. If they do not, the individual’s freedoms will continue to be suppressed by law.
Special interests that have much to gain from the demise of Amendments 47 and 49 are funneling millions of dollars into the election. Slick campaigns from candidates and groups lure voters with the promise to “Protect Colorado’s Future.” The advocacy groups, leftist candidates, and sadly, even the media, are banking on the public’s fears for the economy to turn the election in their favor. Unfortunately, conservatives and libertarians have had trouble articulating what’s at stake. Free stuff is, after all, an easier sell than freedom. If the electorate opts for the former over the latter, dark days are ahead.
Ben Franklin once warned, “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Such a warning has never been more relevant.
Krista Kafer is a freelance writer and consultant in Littleton, Colo.