How Many Patriots

While enjoying a night with our family recently, we engaged into a conversation relating to the existence of true patriots within the borders of our country. The debate filtered down to this topic after initially talking about the current dire state of our economy. If our country continues down the path into a modern day depression, not just a deep recession, and our financial security evaporates along with the property rights of many Americans, there will come a time when our government will step in and try to “correct” the impending destruction of life as we know it. We have already seen the government take steps designed to slow the recession and these steps are well over the line of the basis of our free market philosophy.

Our government has taken ownership stakes in many of our private financial institutions in an effort to shore up the consumer’s confidences in their existence. Our government has purchased failing home mortgages in an effort to shore up our decaying housing markets. Our government has rewritten what several of the free markets can and cannot do in an effort to stabilize the citizen’s faith in our economy. These are simple business deals in which the government has entered into in an effort to stop the declining economic situation. What about our Constitutional rights? Our modern government has changed from a government for the people and protector of our rights, to a government bent on disseminating rights to the people as it sees fit. Is that what our forefathers had in mind? Have you ever read our Constitution and Bill of Rights?

As our economy teeters on the brink of entering into a modern depression, our government has become antsy about what to do. They have used the current situation to extend their reach into the private markets and their next step is into our private lives. If we allow our Constitution to be shredded in the name of economic prosperity, what kind of patriots are we? When did a dollar in our pocket mean more to us than our freedom?

I know many people who would gladly trade a percentage of their freedoms for the government blessing of financial security. A dollar today and food on the table is worth more than living in a free society our forefathers gave their lives to secure. Personally, I would rather be poor and free than “rich” and live as a slave to the government. Our country is approaching a crossroads where our nation’s true patriots need to show up and be accounted for.

We have all heard of the massive amounts of bailout money needed to prop up our current corporations in trouble. We have heard about the trillion dollar deficits coming in the next few years our President Elect has stated is necessary to push our country out of this deepening recession. Where is the money going to come from? Doesn’t it need to be paid back at some point in time? Who exactly is going to be footing this bill?

Let me give you one guess, and I’m sure you’re a pretty smart person. The American citizen is going to foot the bill. The payments can come in a variety of forms. Primarily, taxes are the form of repayment. On the other hand, if taxes aren’t enough to pay for the “fixes,” then the treasury must print money or write off the debt. When was the last time an American taxpayer had his taxes written off? Exactly… never. Printing money is a hidden tax upon our society. It will drive the value of our currency down and then we all pay the price of a weakened dollar.

Has our country reached a place in our history where we will gladly trade our rights as citizens to our government in a plea for financial help? Will we overcome the desires to have financial wealth over the desires of true freedom? The cracks in our Constitutional rights and freedoms are already there and are growing. It is up to us to stop them from widening and destroying the basic foundation of our country. We need our patriots now more than ever. If we fail, our country could be destroyed by our own hands and not by some invading enemy. Are you a patriot or a freedom trader (or traitor)?