The Time Has Come to Stand Up and Declare Your Independence

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
- Patrick Henry, speech to the Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775

One would be hard-pressed to single out a more significant account of today's situation in America. We are currently facing a recession perpetrated by the very government that we have put into power, with bailouts and social programs engineered to take advantage of this situation and remove a great deal of every individual's liberty. At no time in history has the grab for our freedom been as great other than during the Great Depression. Just as Patrick Henry's speech sparked Virginia's entry into the American Revolution, it must, today, spark the whole of the American people into action.

However, we must all first accept responsibility for what has become of this once-great nation. Only after we realize that we have caused this can we turn it around. We used to be the country with freedoms that dreams were made of. Today, this is happening less and less. We have become that which our ancestors fought so hard to separate from. Whereas Great Britain was the empire of the time, we have now taken its place. The U.S. has involved itself in the personal affairs of every corner of the world. And to what ends? What has this done for we, the people? It has only succeeded in making the world a much less safe place for us to live in.

While we have slept precedent after precedent has been set allowing the government to usurp an incredible amount of liberty from us. If we continue to allow this to happen we will be known as the greatest people to ever live at one time only to have slept while they were chained to the debt of special interests. We will be nothing more than slaves; a mere distant recollection of what once was.

It has come time for us to wake up; to take back that which is rightfully ours. Our ancestors did not die fighting for our freedom just to have us tell them that we are “too busy” with our day-to-day lives to do anything about the loss of it. We owe it to our grandchildren to make sure they do not grow up with chains around their necks. We owe it to everyone past and future to not allow this usurpation of liberty to continue.

On this day, July 4, 2009, we owe it to ourselves to stand up and proclaim that we will not bow down to the tyranny that has become our government. We need to speak loudly and let them know that they will never again have the power to decide our lives for us. It is up to every last one of us to accept responsibility for our own lives; to be accountable to ourselves. Then, and only then, will we be able to take back our liberty and, once again, have our country become the place where dreams are encouraged and the possibilities endless. Only then will we know true freedom.