Sunday, April 28, 2013

Life, Liberty and the Persuit of Happiness

    The American Founders acknowledged inalienable rights of all men: the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our country's history has been a struggle to gain understanding of what exactly that means.
    The right to life includes the right to everything that sustains it: food, shelter, clothing, protection and defense. But it is more than that. It is the right to be the embodiment of life, it's essence. It is the right to be life-affirming and life-giving.
     The right to liberty is the right to be without chains, conditions, indoctrination, instructions and guidance. It is the right to learn lessons. But it is more than that. It is the right to aspire, be inspired and to be the source of inspiration. It is the right to spiritual well-being and it's expression.
      The right to the pursuit of happiness is the right to movement toward our aspirations. It is the right to stop something and then restart it. It is the right to dream and sing in abundance, to dance and pursue our interests. We have the right to everything that supports such movement.
      And yet, these are not the rights of ALL men. These rights belong only to those who possess them: those in whom they are recognized and acknowledged. If you believe you must work for a living, earn your keep, then of you it shall be expected. If you believe you need structure and guidance, to it you will be subjected. If you believe happiness has it's limits, for you it will be limited.       
      This is not a "your thoughts create your reality speech", in that you create this for yourself by thinking it as if you were God himself. It is because you believe it that people can take advantage of you and make you pay for these things, to enslave you to working for them for the benefit of the people who make money off your production. Because you refuse to believe differently, God cannot liberate you from your enslavement. His freedom, you call lazy. Did not the one you call Jesus say "work not for riches, material things or worry about what you shall wear or eat"?  Did you know that in other countries people really do live and eat for free? Every citizen has a choice: when you graduate from basic education you can choose college and a career or a state stipend. You don't have to have an excuse or disability, there is no "welfare". Everyone eats, has housing, clothing and medical care. They work shorter days and have very long, frequent vacations so people will spend time with their families. We fear such a system as "communism", but our government has inspired us to fear the idea of us entrusting them with this.  And probably for good reason. 
    The belief that we have to earn our keep and work to deserve to eat is an expression of fear and insecurity.

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