Freedom's Cost

Memorial Day is a time of remembrance that originated after the Civil War.  Mourning the soldiers lost in battle helps us to grasp the great cost paid to remain a free and independent nation.

I think too often we confuse freedom with safety.  Freedom is the ability to choose.  Safety is a feeling that we need not fear because we have surrendered the risk of danger to others.  It comes with a hidden danger, though.  It is the danger that those to whom we have surrendered will abuse that trust.  The nature of humans is such that those who seek control do so for their own gain and will use the power given to them for their own purposes.

I subscribe more to the philosophy of Patrick Henry who said, "Give me liberty or give me death."  Let me make my own decisions about what to believe and whom to trust.  Grant me the freedom to fail, to risk and to challenge those who would seek to block me from the pursuit of happiness in the way that I would choose.

I believe the best government is the least government.  Society needs agreed upon rules of order that protect citizens from abuse.  People do not need a "nanny state" that controls every aspect of their lives.  Happiness cannot exist in the absence of choice.

Some would argue that the government must protect those who society deems to be inferior or different.  My question is simply, who defines the inferior or different?  The innocent, the powerless and the incapable should certainly be protected.  That should primarily be the role of community, friends and family.  

Abuse of others should never be tolerated but it is not the role of government to define what is to be considered as abuse because by making that determination they create new forms of abuse.  There must always be mechanisms by which the citizens can quickly and easily correct that abuse.  Otherwise, the ultimate price will again be paid as was the case in the U.S. Civil War.

Life shouldn't be about safety and living under the dominion of abusive power.  It should be about choosing to face the challenges, to overcome the odds, to create and build, to love and to cherish those whom we would choose without the interference of abusive power.

On this Memorial Day let's remember the ideal that those who paid the ultimate price fought and died for.  Let's focus on freedom.  That includes the freedom to be wrong, to make mistakes and to fail.

The Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) is one of my favorite flowers of summer.  They were not native to the area where I grew up but are common where I now live.  Their blooming is a sure sign that Summer is near.  The one pictured below is wild although many times they are found in cultivated beds, safely tended by their masters.  I prefer the wild and free ones who blossom where they choose.

Milk, Misinformation and Memorial Day

Sometimes you overhear comments that just make you shake your head.  I heard something a couple of days ago that lodged in my mind simply because it was intended to be a condemnation of specific behavior.  It bugged me because it was such a meaningless statement but, meant to be definitive.  The comment was intended to condemn the drinking of milk by adults.  It was, "Man is the only animal that drinks milk after weaning."

I opened my mouth to retort back, but then closed it again because I knew the conversation from that point would not be a good one.  If I had done so, this might be what I would have said:

That isn't technically correct.  I have observed grown cattle nursing other cows.  It isn't common, but they are opportunistic, just like every other animal.  But, it really doesn't matter, because many grown ups drink milk, just like they behave in other ways that no other animal behaves.  Some examples are:  1)  Humans also cook their food.  I don't know of any other animal that does that.  2)  Humans also take multiple food stuffs, mix them together through the "magic" of chemistry and change them into fabulous dishes like pancakes, sauces, casseroles, or other delicious things.  I don't think any other animals do that.  3)  Only around 2% of humans in the United States raise and harvest the food consumed by 100% of the population.  Ants and a few other insects also utilize a division of labor in the collection (notice that I said collection) of food and its transport, but most animals do not raise their own food -- in fact I don't know of any that do.  4)  There are a few animals that utilize tools of some fashion, but man is the only animal that uses tools to make even more complex tools that increase their power to accomplish work.  Some examples would be automobiles, tractors, airplanes, computers, etc.  Should I go on?

The groups that are opposed to the use of animals for food in any fashion constantly seed society with misleading phrases like the one above.  The trouble is that people don't stop and think about them, they just latch on to the ones that resonate personally and propagate them in ways that are negative.  In this case, the person saying it may be lactose intolerant, or simply doesn't like milk.  It doesn't really matter, it is the negativity that grates on me.

What makes me sad though, is that mankind, the creative animal that is both opportunistic and yet foresighted enough to conserve resources in a sustainable fashion, is also gullible enough to fall for deception.  It is confirmation there is a God out there that keeps us from destroying ourselves, and that God certainly isn't man himself.

Okay, I'm done with my rant.  Enjoy your Memorial Day, but keep in mind why we have this holiday on which we honor those who gave the supreme sacrifice that we might enjoy the freedom we have -- even if that freedom means some will use it to promulgate propaganda.

A Better Breed of Men

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
_____ John Stuart Mill


From every corner of our nation
Have come a special breed
Who placed above themselves
Their country's deepest need.
They fought for all our freedom
In answer to the call;
Many of them came back home
But some came not at all.
It is to these brave soldiers
This day is set aside;
They are a better breed of men
Who for us have died.