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BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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This is the last in a series of essays on freedom. In earlier essays, I
discussed What Makes America Great,
Another Side of Freedom,
and The Purest form of Democracy.
Not gonna' happen. We have shown that we will pound into insignificance, even a bearded pipsqueak in the hills of Pakistan, if he and his band of savages tries to destroy us. That message is unmistakably clear, to even the most evil lunatics in the world. I also remember, as a kid, being told that if we fail, we will fail from weaknesses from within, not from outside invaders. This I believe.
 The Thought Police In "1984," Orwell wrote about the "thought police," whose task it was to control the minds of the citizens. Mighty extreme, huh? Let me give you two words: Barack Obama. Nobody knows exactly what he stands for. But the modern thought police -- the mainstream media -- has told you what to think about him. He is the Messiah. Orwell introduced the notion of "thoughtcrime." Again, mighty extreme, you say. Well, today we have "hate crimes." The focus is less on the deed than on the alleged thought.
Freedom of Speech is Not Alive and Well In Canada, hate speech is essentially defined as anything that certain "victimized" people find offensive. So, if a group is sufficiently offended to complain to a human rights commission, the burden of proof has already been met. The human rights commission has no legal standing... yet. So what about free speech? An investigator for Canada's national commission explained it this way: "Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don't give it any value." Be ye warned. Have you taken a close look at your employee handbook recently? Most likely it lists many things you cannot say. Be ever-so careful, lest you be charged with offending a fellow employee, creating a "hostile work environment," or being insensitive to fill-in-minority-of-choice employees just by a careless word or gesture. In civil society, whenever you say "gay," you must follow it with a sincere form of "not that there's anything wrong with it." And heaven forbid if you utter the word "queer" in any context! Teachers cannot tell Billy that two plus two is not three, as he stated, lest little Billy's self-esteem be bruised. Red marking pencils are forbidden... too threatening. Darwin does not explain it all? Ben Stein's movie, "Exposed," shows how dangerous it is to suggest that notion in academia.
But it gets worse. Employers cannot ask a prospective employee's age or marital status. "Do you have any kids?" Nope; that's out of bounds, too. The other day I went a doctor's office where I had been given a brief exam. The receptionist made me provide my date of birth and driver's license before they would give me a copy of my bill. Last week my neighbor called the hospital where her father had been admitted for (she thought) observation. What she got was a stone wall. She was not "on the approved list"; the hospital would not even confirm that he was a patient.
Free to Be Kids growing up today have no idea what a diving board is. Remember the rock-soild, cast iron jungle gym at the school yard we played on for hours and hours? Gone. Kids play violent video games instead. If you ride a bike, you MUST wear a helmet. (How did we ever survive childhood?) Dodgeball or tag at recess? Nope; too violent. These are not safety precautions. These are insidious restrictions on our freedoms. The other day I had to show the clerk at Home Depot my driver's license before I could run a can of spray paint through the price scanner. Spray paint! This is just plain idiotic!
The Most Pernicious Threat The most pernicious threat to our freedom comes from the very entity that is designed to protect it: our government. The government has already told us how much water must be in our toilet tank. One district at a time, it is telling us what we may and may not do in our automobiles. In New Jersey, you are forbidden by law from pumping your own gas. The recent Supreme Court decision on eminent domain demonstrates how serious the threat is. For over 200 years, governments used the constitutional power to take (with just compensation) land from citizens only to build roads, bridges, schools, post offices -- things that the government required to provide pubic services. But in 2005 the Supreme Court decided that it is acceptable to throw people off their property to allow the government to sell the land in order to increase tax revenue -- http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/04-108.pdf The greedy hand of the law extends to the highest levels of our government. Local government has not tried to take my property. But if I want to install a water softener, I have to get a permit. If I want to replace a bathroom door... same thing. The government may not care what I do in the bathroom, but they apparently have a paternal interest in my bathroom door. The most blatant example of government excess involves a legislator who was just a bit too candid about her intent. On May 21, 2008, during a public exchange with Shell Oil president John Hofmeister, Congresswoman Maxine Waters' (D-California) thoughts got just a bit ahead of her tongue. Finger-wagging her warning to the oil executive, these were her words:
Does anybody (outside of the bowels of government), in a moment of calm deliberation, honestly believe that we would be better off if the government ran the oil industry? Just for the sake of argument and my own personal amusement, can anyone tell me anything that the government can do more efficiently and more effectively than the private sector? It is not the threat of a government takeover of the oil industry that makes my blood boil. Few legislators would be eager to go that far... at present. It is the mindset that government can perform better than the marketplace, and that the government has a right or an obligation to become involved in virtually every aspect of our lives and our business. Today, many legislators and many citizens are brainwashed with this dangerous absurdity. Tomorrow? Why not? When we were kids, our parents would have revolted at the notion that the government could or should control the thermostats in our houses. In 2008, a local government tried to extend its reach that far. Could it come to that for all of us? You bet it could! Future President Obama has already hinted at it:
Earlier this year, New York city banned trans-fats in its restaurants. In July, California one-upped the Big Apple. A law banning trans fats from all restaurants was just passed in the largest state in the union. Los Angeles mis-leaders just passed a law banning any new fast food restaurants in poor sections of town. (Translation: you dummies in poor sections of town cannot decide what food you should eat -- we'll decide for you.) One district at a time. Big Brother is watching; big brother knows best.
Big Brother Knows Best You are too ignorant; you are too stupid; we know better; you cannot run your life on your own; you need us to tell you what you can and cannot do; what you can and cannot eat; what you must and must not wear; what you can and cannot say. This is the message our legislators are sending us, one piece at a time. These actions are chipping away at the freedoms that have made the United States the strongest, the most envied, the most prosperous and the most free country on earth. All we have to do is turn our back, just slightly, and our monsterous, insidious mis-leaders will chip away at freedom, one piece at a time. One by one... until they control our actions, our thoughts, our lives. Frankly, that scares me a whole lot more than some crippled, bearded, gaunt fruitcake wandering around the mountains of Pakistan. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Be vigilant... eternally. Ever so vigilant.
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Exploring My Roots: A Chicowitz History
Membership details here.
Terrific boomer memorabilia!!
Remember this?
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If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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