You are not free if you don't know your neighbor

Did you know that true freedom begins in your neighborhood? Well it does. Think about it. Back in the day, we all knew our neighbors. We played as kids in large groups. We filled the streets with laughter and delight.

Our parents knew the parents of our friends. In fact we often had block parties and cook outs. Sometimes, if we lived close to one of the coast, we would pile in a car or two and head to the beach.

The winter months were filled with warm gatherings. Holidays were shared with the neighbors as well as family. We knew when one of our friends was in trouble. We talked to each other about what troubled us and we gave the simple advise we had to offer.

We looked out for others property when they went on vacation and they looked out for ours. Crime was pretty low back in those days. When a crime happened to one of us it was like it happened to all of us.

When there was a death in the family, the neighbors rallied and helped where, when and how they could to ease the pain of losing the one we loved. When we were inured it was our neighbors who came to our aid. They cooked for us. They offered small donations of clothing and even money to help us wade through the most difficult of times.

Today, we live behind high fences and over scaled homes. We have alarm systems that watch our property night and day because we don't know our neighbors at all let alone enough to ask them to keep an eye on our place in our absence.

We live in gated communities. We drive for hours to work and back again. Often many of us don't even see our homes in daylight during half the year because we leave before the sun comes up and we don't get back home until the sun has set.

We barely see our own kids let alone have time for the guy who lives next door. Crime has risen because we don't know who lives next door or across the street. We don't know when someone has a run in with a criminal.

When we find out, instead of going to that neighbors aid, we instead add another lock to our doors and barricade ourselves inside. We build our fences higher and higher. In fact we are so into our own security that some of the fastest growing businesses in this country have to do with fences and home security.

Is it any wonder when something happens one of the first things we do is ask a politician for help? Is it any wonder then that the politician offers nothing but a new law? Is it any wonder that when financial disaster happens it is the politician that now offers some kind of hope with another law?

I say that if we go back to the day when we knew our neighbor we would have a lot less need for the politician and their new laws which only serve to strip each and every one of us of liberty and freedom. And when we lose some freedom and liberty we lose a small part of our ability to provide for and take care of our own which in turn begs to add more laws on top of the already repressive ones we already have.

Get out this summer and get to know your neighbors. Know the kids in the area. Know the parents. Know the pets. Know the homes. Know what they do for a living. Watch over their property when they are away and they will watch over yours. When one is in trouble you all should come together to help in some small way.

Liberty and Freedom are not just personal concepts. They are community concepts. Concepts like these can only be practiced in public. You cannot hide in your home large or small and expect to remain free and safe. It does not happen that way. In fact history has proven just the opposite.

Get out and know those who live with you, around you.

When you are in trouble, your friends and neighbors will know and will come to your aid. Even if you trouble is financial and you are in trouble of losing your home, you will be surprised to find out what your friends and neighbors can do for you and with you.

The old saying it is not what you know but who you know that really counts. You never know who your neighbor knows. They may, and probably do, know someone who could help you out or help you through. But if you say barricaded up in your home you will never know.

You will be one of those crying for new laws to protect you which in turn entrap you. Freedom is in the getting out. See the greater picture here. Lock yourself behind your front door and you limit your freedom. Open your door and you gain freedom.

How beautiful and free a neighborhood can be.

Stop. Think. Vote!