Is Freedom Only an Illusion?

So much has been written, of late, regarding the continuing loss of freedom in the U.S., as big government has relentlessly assumed more and more control over our lives. The Bush Administration's assaults on the Constitution and personal liberties, following in the wake of 9/11 and the resulting inception of the "War on Terror," however, pale in comparison to the Blitzkrieg waged by the Obama Adminstration under the banners of Economic Stimulation, Climate Change, Health Care, Social Justice, and Redistribution of Wealth, just to name a few of the battle fronts.

The Obama campaign has triggered a furor and counter-furor rising up from the ranks of partisan liberals and conservatives. There have been cries of the erosion of free speech and privacy countered by antiphonal cries of the desperate need to insure health care for every citizen as well as the life of the planet, which is, purportedly, in imminent peril, if governments do not band together and prevent the impending environmental holocaust. More government controls are advocated, even the formation of a world government to intercede on behalf of the floundering geosphere. There is more, but it would take us too far afield of the primary purpose of this post.

Photo Credit: Nati (Flicker.com)

We must ask a critical question. Even if we could turn the clock back and undo all of the assaults on the Constitution and individuals, even if we could be assured that the rights guaranteed by the Constitution were alive and well, would we really be free?

The ancient Greek philosopher, Epictetus, put the matter succinctly:

"No man is free who is not master of himself."