Losing Precious Freedoms With The Help Of Government

Freedom is a very precious commodity that is only enjoyed by the folks who are wiling enough to recognize it, and tenacious enough to preserve it and pass it on to their children.

Today, I fear, Americans are going to vote (willingly and happily) nearly all of their freedoms away.

Tyrants do not want a self-reliant populace. If an individual is able to care for him or herself, and set something aside for the future, the government is really a hindrance endured rather than a slave master who is hugged.

Politics is actually about getting power, keeping power, and increasing power. Needy people, the needier the better, keep tyrants in power.

My dad was a high school student during a lovely period for Democrats known as the Great Depression. Once a week, he, his older brother, and his father would stand in a line waiting for the government’s potato truck.

The government agent, once the truck arrived, would give each of them a sack of potatoes. Three males got three sacks. For greens my dad mowed lawns. He would collect the grass clippings in a large burlap bag and take it home. My grandmother would boil some water and her family of five would enjoy potato and grass soup for a week --until the government’s potato truck showed up again. Yes, this happened in America in the 1930s.

They all thanked President Franklin Roosevelt for keeping them alive and the adults showed their gratitude by voting solidly Democrat. Roosevelt hated the rich. Why, don’t you know? If a rich person opened a factory and gave people jobs, that wicked individual might actually become wealthier.

In addition to that terrible event, the workers might become self-reliant and no longer need a potato truck. They might even -- at least some of them -- start voting for Republicans. (Curse the day.)

So, even though very few folks had jobs and precious little money, the average American voted for Democrats; Roosevelt was elected four times in a row.

It is actually a very good thing for today’s Dems that 20 million former workers lost their jobs in the past 52 weeks. Those impoverished Americans truly need government help. Mark them down as Democrats.

Forty-seven million people are currently enrolled in the food stamp program. By 2016, that number will hopefully be reversed at 74 million. With 74 million needy folks, the Democrats can’t lose. Damn those close elections.

If the Republicans cannot beat President Barack Obama, with his dreadful record as president, they may never win another national election.

While a boy in a junior high school classroom, I heard a teacher say that freedom is always one generation away from being lost, and once lost, it is usually gone forever. That particular statement hit me because it sounded so utterly stupid, but I’m a little wiser now.

Today, on Election Day, America will kiss nearly all of her freedoms goodbye and return to nearly universal poverty. Get ready to mow those lawns and save the grass clippings. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Walt Osterman is the author of "Not Home Yet: A Tale Concerning Israel's Rebirth." He served in Vietnam and is a Bronze Star recipient. He lives in Wyoming.