On Independence Day, I, like many Americans, reflect on what this day represents, on our declared freedom from a faraway government that had become increasingly tyrannical.  We all, as Americans, have a responsibility to preserve the freedoms the founders fought and died for.  We must ensure that the government continues to serve the people and not the other way around.  Government must do what is necessary, but only that which is necessary.

            For some time now we have fallen into a pattern of describing our choices as left and right, becoming a standard rhetoric in political philosophy.  But is that really an accurate description of the choices before us?  If we were to continue far enough in either direction, one will take us to communist totalitarianism; the other will take us to fascist totalitarianism.  Isn’t our choice really not of left or right, but as President Reagan believed, that of up or down?  Down through the welfare state to more and more government growth accompanied by more government authority, less individual liberty, and ultimately totalitarianism always proposed and advanced for our own good.  The alternative is the dream conceived by our founding fathers, up to the ultimate in individual freedom. 

            We don’t celebrate Dependence Day on the 4^th of July, we celebrate Independence Day.  We celebrate the right of each person to be recognized as an individual, possessing the sacred right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.  With our independence goes a spirit of generosity that is more evident here than in any other part of the world.  Acknowledging that we are all created equal, we are willing to help those who, through no fault of their own, are in need of our assistance.

            I began my adult life as a Republican, casting my first vote in 1980 for Ronald Reagan.  During his reign he slashed tax rates for all Americans, created a period of economic growth the likes of which the world had rarely seen, and re-established this country as the world’s super power.  Under his leadership we again recognized and rewarded individual greatness and defeated communism around the world.

            As the years went by and his visions were forgotten, did I leave the Republican Party, or did the leadership of that party leave not just me, but millions of Republicans that believed in the principles and philosophy of conservatism?  Freedom is not something that we can strive for once, achieve, and have forever.  In order to keep it, we have to keep working for it and sacrificing for it as long as we live.

            There are those who tell us that for reasons of security or to prevent economic disaster, we must surrender our individual freedoms; we must create more restrictions and regulations on corporate and individual behavior.  This is not about left or right.  Again, our choice is about up or down; up to the ultimate in individual freedoms or down to the ash heap of a fallen society.  Those that would trade our freedoms for perceived individual or economic security are taking us down the wrong path.

            As we celebrate our independence today, let us not mourn the fallen soldiers. Rather, let us honor them by remembering and protecting the freedoms we enjoy that they fought for and made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve.

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