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John Whitehead's Commentary

Are We Really Willing to Give Up Our Freedoms for Health Insurance?

John Whitehead
In a recent survey commissioned by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1,000 individuals divided--by ethnic, gender, regional and economic backgrounds, yet united asAmericans--were asked about their views on freedom. Their responses were anything but encouraging.

According to the results of the survey, when asked whether they were willing to relinquish personal freedoms and privacies to protect the country, 49 percent said yes.

Those interviewed also affirmed that the right to affordable health care and the right to an education are, in their opinion, more important to their welfare than freedom of speech, freedom of religion and other basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

If their responses are anything to go by in determining the future of this nation, then we have come a long way from the start of the dream that was the United States of America.

Once upon a time, a group of individuals chose a difficult path because they saw a different future for this nation from what they had experienced under the British crown.

The men and women who founded this country were willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, so that they could have one basic thing in life: freedom. Nothing--not personal peace or affluence--could stand in the way of freedom. Thatís how America began in those dog days of summer many years ago.

On a sweltering day in August of 1776, 56 men declared their commitment to freedom by signing their names to the following statement: "For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

In pursuit of their unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--and the rights of generations to come-these men, representatives of 13 states, chose to risk everything for the promise of freedom.

Francis Lewis, for example, a merchant from New York, saw his home and lands destroyed and his wife imprisoned. Richard Stockton, a justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court, was forced to go into hiding with his wife and children, only to be captured, beaten and jailed by British soldiers. His home burned and his possessions destroyed, Stockton was left with nothing and had to live off charity.

In all, 17 of the signers lost their fortunes. Nine lost their lives. Several were imprisoned and tortured. Others lost wives and children. Many were never able to see the "Promised Land" of liberty, but they were content to leave a legacy far greater than wealth or property.

Yet these men were not alone in their willingness to sacrifice everything for the promise of freedom. Throughout Americaís history, when the call to action has gone out, brave individuals have risen to take a stand for the oppressed, the persecuted and the enslaved.

Time and again, self-sacrificing men and women have staked their fortunes, their lives and their reputations on the principles upon which this country was founded. Whether they marched on Washington for equal rights for African-Americans or fought in trenches to defend American interests abroad, whether they fought in the Civil War or World War II, they were all fighting for freedom.

To a large degree, we are all descendants of these patriots. And we owe them a debt of gratitude for all they fought for and achieved.

No matter what our ancestry or nationality, whether we are tenth generation Americans or newly immigrated to the United States, we all have a right and a responsibility to guard the liberties that came at such a high price to so many.

And never, certainly not for the sake of health insurance or education, should we be willing to sell our God-given freedoms. They sacrificed everything for the sake of their freedoms. We can do no less.

Those who founded this country understood the price that must be paid for freedom. The men and women who were willing to give their lives for this country understood it. And those who risk their lives trying to reach Americaís borders and her promise of opportunity, equality and justice understand it. So it is time that the American people show some sign of appreciating our precious inheritance and stop squandering it or trying to trade it for material possessions and false security.

If not, we will surely lose all our forefathers fought and died for and sacrifice any freedoms our children might enjoy.

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Grasping for the Wind. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.

ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

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