Benjamin Franklin once famously said “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Imagine for a moment if our founding fathers, the signers of the Declaration of Independence, instead of pledging their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” to the cause of freedom & liberty, had accepted an offer from King George to be “grandfathered in”, and therefore exempted from the burdens that the British empire was laying on the backs of the colonists. The king could have said, “Don’t worry gentlemen, this won’t affect you. You will be grandfathered in, and these laws will only affect the people who will be coming to the colonies after you. After all, we want to keep the colonies ‘English’, don’t we?” Do you think they would have even considered such an offer? It could have saved them a great deal of difficulties, to be sure. It would have been much easier on them than to fight the war for independence.
When it comes to laws that infringe on our liberties, the offer to be “grandfathered in” is an enticement to get us to go along with them despite finding them burdensome or repulsive because we would be negatively impacted otherwise. By promising to exempt us from the enforcement or consequences of not complying with the rules, we become less concerned because we believe that the burdens are only meant for others. It is much easier to approve of these new rules when we are told that they are not meant for us. However, while others are suffering from these difficulties that we’ve allowed, we still have to find a way to sleep at night.
Since the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, think of all the men and women of America who have selflessly sacrificed their lives and limbs for the sake of preserving the liberties that we enjoy and even take for granted. American colonists stood up to the most formidable army in the world, with little chance of success, just for the hope of securing freedom and liberty for their children and future generations. Many, if not most, knew full well that their chances of returning home and peacefully living out the rest of their lives were slim to none, yet they chose to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others… for OUR sakes. To them, it was that important. Americans have engaged in conflicts around the world, spilling blood and treasure, to retain and even spread these freedom and liberties.
How important are those sacrifices to us, now?
As we look forward to the celebration of our American Independence in just a couple of weeks, we should think about those men and women, and the sacrifices that they made. Because they were willing to pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to preserve our freedoms and liberties, now all we have to do is keep them, and not let just them slip away like some trivial relic that has lost its value. We don’t have to risk our lives, we just have to pay attention. We don’t have to resort to violence, we just have to stand up and speak out. We can’t let liberty become a meaningless cliché which we only pay lip service when talking about American ideals without demeaning the shed blood of those who sacrificed all that they had to ensure that we would remain free to live our lives as we thought best for ourselves and our children.
The loss of our property rights in Cady is not yet a foregone conclusion, but it will be if we don’t do something now. We need to tell our town government that we appreciate what they do to keep our roads clear and functional, ensure that we have access to emergency services, and take as little as necessary from us to provide for the services that we have requested. However, we also need to tell our town government that we will not limit ourselves to two garage sales per year, or ask permission to start a home business, or abstain from setting up a camper for the summer, or cut down a tree, or raise up a shed. We need to tell our town government that we do love Cady just the way that it is; BEAUTIFUL AND FREE; and we will do everything within our power to keep it that way. Please be sure to come to the Cady Public Hearing tomorrow to tell them how you feel. They need to know, and they need to hear it from you
