(Karoline is 16, and opted to compete in a higher age bracket)
Particularly at this time in America's national life, freedom is an agitating topic. The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington have prompted a flurry of finger pointing. Some Americans blame the opportunity for these attacks on too much freedom. Others blame it on too little. There are those who argue that the success of these attacks should be blamed on lack of airport security and the government's failure to track the whereabouts of aliens within our borders. There are others who argue that the real problem was mandated defenselessness. If every man and woman on those hijacked planes had been carrying a revolver and knew how to use it, how far would those terrorists have gotten?
If we Americans are going to hold out our hands and point fingers, we need to recognize, as children love to remind bossy playmates, that three fingers are pointing back at our own selves. The answer to the problem of freedom does not begin with the civil government. Neither federalization of airport security, homeland security initiatives, or citizen armament will cut it. Before they can cope wisely with the question of civil freedom, Americans need to grapple with the question of personal freedom. This is true for governors as well as governed, but everyone should start with himself. In order to do that, we must go back to the basics, and consider what freedom is. Is freedom the liberty to do whatever we want whenever we want? If so, tyrants are the freest men alive. Everyone should want to be the head of a totalitarian regime. This definition does not work. In order for free men to exist side by side, certain universal moral laws have to be recognized. Freedom, in order to be freedom, must be circumscribed by the laws of right and wrong. Total lawlessness results in totalitarianism. Moral lawfulness establishes freedom. So our first duty, if we would be free, is obedience to the Moral Law without which freedom cannot exist. The second personal duty is the observance of simple common sense. America has a representative form of government. There is not a single man or woman in the national legislature who was not willingly voted for by the people. If we dislike the positions or their actions of our legislators, the remedy is simple. Don't vote for him or her next time. If we vote for inferior leaders, we will get exactly what we asked for, inferior leadership. In this scenario, it is not so much the leaders as the people who are to blame when catastrophes take place.
Beyond self governance is family governance. Let parents train their children to govern themselves according to the Moral Law, and teach them to both love freedom and accept its responsibilities. One of the key components of this training should be self defense. A people cannot be weak and vulnerable, and look for respect from its governors. Rather, as Franklin recognized, nature abhors a vacuum, and if citizens fail in governing themselves and their families, someone else will do it for them, and they will end by calling him Master.
Freedom is a solemn thing. A people that would be free must be a good people, a wise people, and a strong people. Clamoring at politicians in crowds, throwing vases at the television screen, and cracking corny jokes about our representatives are only signs that we do not care about freedom. Americans who are dissatisfied with their civil government and worry about the erosion of freedoms should consider what it takes to cut off those three accusing fingers on their own right hands, and ask themselves if they are willing to make the sacrifice. If they are, well and good. If they are not, their servitude is willing, and deserved.
To the Winners Announcement Page
Home
URL: http://www.lrt.org/essaycontest/ec6.eighteen.fourth.html