Freedom Is The Dream Of Man

 

There is nothing more tantalizing than freedom. There is nothing more frightening than freedom. There is nothing more fragile than freedom.

Freedom has always caught the imagination of the poor, the down trodden, the meek, the poor. Since the days of man's first civilization, freedom has been a concept not often experienced in reality by many humans.

The thought of being free to eek out a life the way in which that individual wants and dreams of has caused many to plan, to fight, to die in an effort to achieve and experience it. Over the centuries many have salivated at the very thought and notion of it.

Freedom is also very frightening to many. It means less power for those who want to be in charge of every aspect of every day life. It means you are the master of your life, your destiny with no safety net. You live and or die by your own hand, imagination, work ethic.

Its also very, very fragile. It is under constant threat by those who abhor its very nature, its very being. Those who have a disdain for freedom will do whatever they can to crush it, bury it, burn it, grind it into a pulp and then spread that pulp over a swamp of authoritarianism. And this sort of thing can happen in an instant or slowly over time.

Those who love freedom must always be vigilant for those who hate it. You see, the haters often depict themselves as something more fantastic. They depict themselves as saviors of mankind. They have a better way. And they claim all they want to do is take care of the poor, make things more fair.

Their true goal is to enslave you, crush your spirit, make you dependent on them for your very existence. You see, that is their drug. They get high on the fact that they can and do rule over you. The Freedom Haters have always been anti-human. If you don't bow down to them and worship them then those same people who claim they only want to help you, protect you, provide for you, save you from yourself, have no issue with killing you, tossing you aside, destroying you.

This has been true through history.

From kings and queens, to emperors, to Chairmen of authoritarian political parties, none have actually delivered on their promise of a better society, utopia. NONE!

What these rulers of men have done, what they have left behind is a massive highway of death, despair and destruction.

Those who are free and believe in the very tenants of freedom have no desire to conquer, to rule over, to disparage others. They have always fought to protect the freedom of others even if those others were not their kin, neighbors, city, country. They believe everyone should be able to experience freedom and to live as they see fit. And they are willing to lay their own lives down in order to secure such freedom not only for themselves but for others.

Even if a dictator of any kinds succeeds in crushing freedom for some, they can never kill it. Freedom is always the dream of man. It always has been. It always will be.

Funny thing about freedom though. It gives you the ability to give it up. How ironic.

Rod Eccles is the owner of the award winning RodEccles.Net website, Host of the popular audio/radio program – The Rod Eccles Show which returns to the air on Monday, January 3,2021 Noon to 3 pm Eastern on ZMA Radio. And he is a dynamic Key Note Speaker. You can find out more about Rod and his show and speaking engagements at www.RodEccles.Net

Sympathy doesn't change the facts

I am sitting here going nuts. I am having a hard time keeping my cool. I am sure my medical emergency someday will be due to a heart attack from stress. The question is why did I have the stress and will the government pay for my treatment to keep me alive.

The answer to the second part of that question is, in my opinion in which I believe with all my heart is, no. I am a conservative and as such I don't believe in government run health care. I am sure someone at some point in the future is going to look at my record and decide that since I was so against the government, it would be better for everyone (at least the government) if I were to no longer be on this earth.

Now make no mistake about it. I am a Christian and I firmly believe that when I am absent from this earthly body, I will be in the presence of my Lord in heaven. So for me to die by natural causes is not a fear that I have. The point is will I be helped along by those in power because I did not agree with them in taking control of my health care.

The first part of the question begs another question...why did I have so much stress in the first place? The answer is a simple one. My government gave me the stress.

I tried listening to a Blog Talk Radio talk show this evening that was talking about health care and the reform that our government wants to foist upon us all. It was even disguised as a "faith" talk about health care reform.

Now understand this, Christ Himself would not go for government control of health care. But some of our so-called faith leaders seem to think that health care is a right granted to us by God. It is not. You don't even have a RIGHT to eat. Think I am wrong? Then well answer this question. If eating is a RIGHT then why is it not the case that our government owns and operates every single grocery store in the land? Hey, eating is far more important than health care. You can live for a long time with out going to the doctors office. But you can only last so long without eating.

We have even people of "faith" who are willing to lie for the left because they think it shows sympathy. Well, it doesn't. True sympathy would be to help others help themselves. The old wise tale of feeding a man with a fish and teaching him to fish applies in every aspect of our life including health care.

We have seen that by giving humans something that they feel doesn't cost them anything often leads to those things becoming highly expensive and highly over used. Don't believe me? How often do you think people would go to their doctor if all they had to do is pay five or ten dollars out of their pocket? Very often as it turns out. They go even for a simple cold.

Why is it then, that nearly every other country with government run health care rations that health care in some form or another? Is it out of sympathy? Not it is out of cost control.

Simply put, you cannot control cost on the healthy. You cannot control cost on those who do NOT use the health care system. You can only control cost on the sick. You can only control cost on those who DO use the system.

So the question should be, if all of you who support so-called health care reform, will you complain when it does not live up to your expectations? Because by its very nature and design it cannot.

Will you curse health care on your early death bed or will you praise the wisdom of some government board who denied you life saving or life extending care?

Yea, I didn't think so.

The Death of Freedom? Not on my watch.

The economy is on every ones radar right now. You cannot go an hour without hearing about the economy and how it is in a tail spin. You cannot turn on the TV or radio without some kind of bad news about the economy. In fact even when there is some good news (rare as it may seem) it is buried by all the bad news.

This would leave one to believe that we are in the days of the worst economy in history. Or at least the worst economy since the great depression, according to the messiah, President-elect Obama.

Now this brings me to my point of this post. The arrogance of our leaders is astounding. Not one of them (except for President Bush) is touting free markets. Not one of them (again except for President Bush) is talking about less government. No, our leaders are enthralled with the notion that more government, bigger government is the key to all our worries. Big government will fix our problems. Huge government is the answer to the stock market, Detroit auto makers, big banks and the mortgage mess, wall street greed and general "Main Street" economic decline.

How, I ask you, how can more government, more regulation by people who have never run private companies do anything more efficiently than the American people? They have proven though history that they cannot.

But this economy is the perfect vehicle for the "nanny state" proliferaters to take your freedom. They will immerse your business, your company, your employer in red tape. This red tape will eat at profits. This red tape will force people to fire workers. This red tape will force some companies on the edge to go out of business without the hope of being saved.

Oh, but wait, they can be saved only if they let the government take them over, buy them out and then tell them how to run. No, no, no. This is NOT what the Founding Fathers had in mind. This is what the Founding Fathers feared. This is what the Founding Fathers warned us about. They are shouting from their graves via their letters, notes, other writings and the Constitution.

"Government," as stated by Ronald Reagan, "all to often is not the answer. It is the problem."

Now think about this for a minute. There have been huge debates about who is responsible for the mortgage melt down. I think that if you looked at the evidence with an objective eye, you will see that most of the blame falls on the Liberal Democrats. Palosi, Reed, Dodd and even Obama all had a big hand in helping our economy turn on its ear and head for the pits of hell.

Yet these are the same people who are now saying they can FIX the problems of the world. They did this on purpose. They did this to get you to fear. They did this so you would let them take your freedom away from you.

The Liberal Democrats have tried for decades to grow government and take your liberty from you. Most of the time they did not succeed. But then, Democrats can learn from history as well. We now have the perfect storm of history, Democrats and radical ideas coming together. This storm was engineered from the beginning. This storm was planned and executed with precision and malice.

Hitler took the people of Germany down a path they would not have gone if it were not for the fact that the German people were scared to death of what was going to happen to them after first Great War. As things got worse for Germany, the more power Hitler was able to amass. He kept up his rhetoric and fear mongering until things got so bad that the German people gave Hitler exactly what he wanted.

Are we at that cross road now? Is this the storm that the Liberal Democrats have in store for us? You bet your bottom American dollar it is. Look at what they are doing now. Obama has won the White House. He is running around acting like he is already in office. This is unheard of. He does not take control until January 20, 2009 yet he is pushing Bush aside like he was nothing more than table scraps.

He has the audacity to tell a sitting President what he wants that President to do before he takes over. Unheard of.

Nancy and the gang are chomping at the bit to get the chance to investigate, prosecute and jail as many of the Bush team as possible. This is also unheard of. We the people cannot stand for this. This is not justice. This is not fairness. This is not peace. This is not the American way. This IS the new tone that those now in power intend to set.

Mark my words, if we do not stop them here, stop them now, we will not be able to stop them later. They will build momentum and enact laws that will make if hard if not impossible to stop them in the future.

No, America, this is not how a great nation continues to be great. We have a job to do and it won't be easy or pretty. And Obama was right, it will take sacrifice but not the kind of sacrifice that he wants from us. It will take guts, strength, wisdom and gumption that has not been seen on our land since the founding of this great country.

This is YOUR country. It does not belong to Palosi. It does not belong to Reed. It does not belong to Dodd. It does not belong to Frank. It does not belong to Obama. It belongs to YOU and to ME. And that is how the Founding Fathers intended it to be.

Benjamin Franklin said, "Those who give up liberty for security truly deserve neither."

I say you can only have security through liberty. Period.

My Colors Don't Run.

Today Barack Obama continues his winning streak in the Democrat Primary. Hillary Clinton, of course, still touts her supposed 35 years of service that makes her the only Democrat ready to lead on day one in the White House.

I am still trying to figure out what she has done all those 35 years. All I hear for her is that she wants to take away our freedoms when she gets into office. All I hear is how she wants to take care of all of us. The problem with taking care of us is she and her other Democrat friends will have to pounce on the Constitution.

Thrashing the Constitution is not limited to Democrats. Republicans have done it as well. In fact we have a front runner on the Republican side that was a co sponsor of a bill that became law that limits our freedom of speech. It's called the McCain Fiengold bill. It limits most Americans free speech when it comes to elections.

They argued that money is not equal to free speech. The real reason for this law is to limit opposition close to an election. This is not the American way. Not by the standards of the US Constitution.

Let me be very clear. I do not believe any of the major candidates have yours or my best interest in their minds. Oh they may say they do but its all in their actions, not what they give lip service to. How can you say you are for freedom and choice when you want to take over a major part of every Americans life?

How can you say you are for freedom when you are for making laws that limit choice and attack the very freedoms that are written within the Constitution? You can't. Look around you. Do you honestly believe that limiting your freedoms is better for you and your family and business? Of course not.

We have more laws on our books than ever before. We have laws that contradict some other laws. We have laws that are so confusing that it is nearly impossible for prosecutors and judges to adjudicate them. We have laws that fly directly in the face of the Constitution limiting the every day freedoms of the average American.

Lets face it, we have been the frog in the pot far too long. It is time we jump out of this pot and reclaim what is rightfully ours. The Constitution guarantees us our freedom. The courts are supposed to make sure of this and the executive offices of the states and the federal level are supposed to make sure those rights are safe and enforced.

I love my country. Let me repeat that. I love the United States of America. No it is not a perfect country. It does not have a perfect history. With my heritage, I know how imperfect it has been and how imperfect it still is. However, after visiting and/or living in other nations on this globe, I can tell you there is no other place as nice or free.

But it seems Americans are eager to elect those people who are more than happy to strip them of their basic rights. This I just do not understand. I would fight and die willingly to protect and preserve what our Founding Fathers fought so hard to give me and my heirs. I will support anyone who will truly support the Constitution of the United States. I will fight to defend the rights of all of those who disagree with me for that very reason that differences of opinion have helped make our country so great.

But what I cannot stand by and let happen is a bunch of politicians stomp on the graves of our Founding Fathers and strip the Constitution bare. Oh the carnivores are feasting on the American people rights and the American people keep serving them up with bear to wash it all down.

But not this American. Not this Constitution loving American. You should not let your rights be taken away. You should demand that the rights you have lost be returned and you can do that by voting for those who stand up for the Constitution. And for those of you who support him, I do not believe in him. I am talking about Ron Paul. He is not the right person at the right time for a number of reasons that really belong in another post.

Just think about what I have said. Take an hour or so and read the Constitution. It is YOUR Constitution. It belongs to all of us and you should know what you are giving up when you vote for those who say they want to “help and take care of you” because in the end, they only help and take care of themselves at your expense.

When you vote, vote for the Constitution of the United States of America. Never, never, never let your colors run. Mine don't and never will.

Health Care Inovation Can Solve Crisis

What is wrong with our health care system? To be short, nothing. What is the downfall of our health care system? To be short, government.

Why do I say that? Because government has pretty much eliminated any way for the average person to develop new systems and profit by it. The insurance industry as a whole, is the most regulated industry in our country. Within that industry is the health care and health insurance industry, which is probably the most regulated part of the insurance industry.

Look at it this way. The government gives your employer (not you) a huge deduction for providing health care coverage for you. But only health care. Your employer wont get incentives to offer you car insurance. Your employer wont get government incentives to provide you with legal insurance. In fact you employer wont get government incentives for providing you with most benefits. The only one is health insurance.

By regulation, the government has also made it nearly impossible for the average person to shop around and get health insurance coverage on their own. You don't have the opportunity to shop around for health care coverage like you do auto insurance. You can get great deals on home owner or even renters insurance but you cant get deals on health care coverage of the same magnitude.

Government also makes innovation nearly impossible in health care coverage. Not just anyone can start a health care company. Not just anyone can innovate health care and bring it to market. Lets take a look at legal insurance.

I do not endorse or recommend any of the companies I may mention in this article nor do I have a direct financial stake in these companies.

Pre-paid legal is a Multi-Level Marketing company that provides a sort of legal insurance plan. You can join the company or just purchase the plan from a company member and you will be covered for many legal matters, some of which there is no additional out of pocket cost. Sort of like an HMO for the legal set.

This type of company could never exist in our country with todays laws and regulations. You could not have a true MLM company providing health care coverage. Say what you will about the MLM industry but it has revolutionized many industries in our nation and is responsible for billions of dollars in sales annually.

Take a franchise system. You can franchise just about anything in our country except health insurance. You already know that franchises in our country are hugely successful. They account for about one third of our total GNP. Sure there are some form of franchised health care companies like Health Stop but those are not like a McDonald's or a Rust Check. You have to be a medical professional to have one and they are not insurance plans.

Of course there are all kinds of discount programs out there. Even an MLM version is available. It is called AmeriPlan. But it is not insurance.

You can franchise a real estate company, even though everyone involved needs to be licensed to sell real estate. You can MLM personal financial advise as with Primarica even though all participants who actually sell the stuff have to get financial licenses. You can franchise insurance companies themselves such as State Farm but again you must be licensed.

So if we can franchise other industries that require a license then why can we not franchise, MLM or otherwise open up the health insurance industry so that innovation and competition take hold. So that the American people will have a true choice about their health care. Why do we not have the freedom to chose our health care like we do with just about every other aspect of our life?

The simple answer is government. Get the government out of it and you will see innovation, improved services, lower cost and more people able to afford to access the system. Now that was easy.