The True Meaning of Freedom

Few people understand the true meaning of freedom. I believe it was best explained by Rudy Giuliani, who said: "Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it."

That's right. Freedom means asking permission and taking orders from people who are superior to you, like politicians and bureaucrats. Here's how it works, when a regular person becomes a politician, judge, cop, or bureaucrat, they become instantly transformed into incorruptible demigods who are now free to operate outside normal morality. This is fitting as we all know that politicians are renowned for their intelligence and honesty, just as bureaucrats are known for their efficiency and empathy.

And then there the laws, which all must obey. Laws are magic squiggles inscribed on paper which can alter morality.  For example, laws in the US once banned the consumption of alcohol & allowed slavery. Thus, when these laws were in effect, morality was altered such that drinking alcohol was evil and owning slaves was not.

Now, some of you less patriotic types might be asking how men making squiggles on paper can alter morality. The answer is through interpretation of the Constitution. This ancient document was written so long ago that ordinary citizens can no longer read & understand it. Fortunately, we have politicians and judges to interpret it for us. Take the 10^th amendment for example. It reads:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Now, a layman reading that would think it means the federal government is only allowed to do what is specifically listed in the Constitution. But what it really means is that the federal government can do whatever it wants if it feels like it.

To sum up, every American’s duty can be expressed as one word:

OBEY