Fighting for Freedom

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
- Thomas Jefferson

We’ve become so specialized in this country that basic jobs every family used to do on their own are now outsourced. Mechanics change the oil in our car. We repair very little on our own; our warped economics usually makes replacement cheaper, anyway. In many cases people pay others even to clean their homes and maintain their yards.

The defense of liberty, however, cannot be outsourced. The military professional, so highly praised in today’s America, signs on for specialized training. But the military is useless against liberty’s greatest foes: apathy, ignorance and corruption at home. The fight against these enemies requires the commitment of every free man and woman.

One of the worst indictments of our nation today is that newly naturalized citizens often know our heritage better than those blessed enough to be born here. Do you know what freedoms the Bill of Rights spell out? Can you name the three branches of government? Do you know who your elected leaders are…and more importantly, do you know how they’re voting on the crucial issues of the day? What have you done lately in the cause of freedom?

Memorial Day honors those who died in the service of America. Are citizens today willing to live in a way that makes that sacrifice worthwhile? Or is the oft-proclaimed “World’s Most Powerful Military” merely defending the far-flung outposts while the nation rots from within? Parades and yellow ribbons won’t keep America free. Vigilance--not just over the horizon, but aimed at those governing us at home--can.