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Freedom

By MARY JANE HOLT
Contributing Writer

One thing I know: Freedom is not free. It’s not even cheap. Never has been. Never will be.

Ask any mother or mate or child who has lost a loved one in battle. Yeah. Battle. Freedom and battle go hand in hand. Always have. Always will.

Why is that? Because there’s always somebody around who wants to take your freedom. And they will take it in a heartbeat, if you let them.

What does “if you let them” mean?

Now that would be the real question of the hour. Certainly, Americans, in our short history, have asked that question many times. It has begged to be asked. Still it begs. I’m sure hearing the begging a little louder this year.

Shucks, I’ve even been thinking about running for public office, but I have about decided to devote my extra time to hosting more “You Are Somebody” retreats/seminars in which I try to drive home the difference one “involved” person can make.

You see, I am starting to believe that the freedom we hold so dear may be on the verge of great compromise. To say the least…

Think about it. For instance, most folks in this country, if they vote at all, just vote for the name they hear most often. The name that rings a bell. The one that is displayed on the most signs. The one they might vaguely remember glimpsing on some piece of “junk mail” that they trashed without even scanning it.

Or sometimes, they vote for kin. A friend or neighbor’s kin. Or somebody known by somebody they know. Their own kind, they say.

I know. I know. Scary, isn’t it? I’m betting the shoe has fit us all at one time or another.

So just what is the price the average Joe and Jane should pay for the freedom they claim to hold so dear in America?

That answer, dear readers, is simple: Be informed. Act on the facts. Vote from conviction.

Then it becomes not so simple. Being informed requires a time commitment. Gathering the facts requires time and effort. Voting requires time, effort and standing in a line.

God forbid!

We Americans are too busy for such.

And so I fear for our freedom. My freedom and yours. Our children’s and grandchildren’s freedom.

Bet you thought when I started this freedom line today that I was about to harp about battlefields and dying for liberty and the like.

Or maybe you would expect me to talk about how we should be more willing to care about our neighbors next door, across town, around our land, throughout the world.

You might think I would encourage folks to get more involved when someone is being abused, held back, denied the opportunity to grow, evolve, become, aspire, succeed.

No, I’m not into that today. I’m not even into remembering how when “we” fought for our own independence from Mother England that other nations and peoples came to our aid, supported us, helped us. No, not at all. This is not the day for such meanderings.

Certainly, you would expect me to point out how if we don’t take the battle “for freedom” to other lands that eventually the battle will come to our own shores?

Oh, and you might think I would be amiss if I did not give some thought to all the invasion of privacy issues that keep surfacing up in Washington or somewhere. All that new legislation could have something to do with my freedom. I think somebody suggested that.

Well, I’m not going there or in a thousand others directions freedom’s call could take me. Not today.

I’m just worried about those coming lines, and all those signs that litter up the road ways, and the influx of junk mail that’s cluttering my box these days.

And I sure hope those political forums and conventions do not interfere with my television viewing routine. But if they do, maybe I can rent a movie or something. I’m sure I will find a way to cope.

Ah, but I’ll be glad when things are back to normal again. Probably be sometime around mid November, I suppose. After all those folks who enjoy long lines get through voting their convictions and deciding for me who’s gonna be telling me what to do and how to think over the next few years.

Now where was I? What was that about freedom? I’m sure I was going somewhere with that thought today. Ah, but I’ve got things to do, places to go, people to see. I’ll think about freedom another day.