“Creeping Totalitarianism”- How free are we?

clipped from www.intellectualconservative.com There is neither such thing as a people with complete freedom nor one completely bereft of it; it’s a matter of degree. While many realize this, few understand that there is a barometer with which liberty can be measured: The number of laws in existence. By definition, a law is the removal of a freedom, as it dictates that there is something you cannot or must do. If the former, you’re not free to do it; if the latter, you’re not free to do otherwise. Many rightly point out that some laws free us from the tyranny of our fellow man. Prohibitions against murder, rape and theft, for instance, provide us the freedom to walk down the street unmolested. Yet for two reasons this barometer of liberty is still valid. First, when we speak of how free a nation is, we refer to freedom from government intrusion. Second, while such laws are necessary and just, they do nevertheless deny us certain freedoms. Only, we’re not going to worry about freedoms whose removal only bothers Tony Soprano.

From Article:”Yet we long ago transitioned from making just laws to just making laws, which is why I look forward with a sense of foreboding. Every year our nation enacts more and more laws but hardly ever rescinds any, which means every year we become progressively less free. I call this  “creeping totalitarianism”.

“Currently it’s fashionable to bemoan the Patriot Act and wax apoplectic about how the sky is falling, as if it’s 1789 and we’re confronted with our very first extra-constitutional measure. Oh, I’m not saying good people shouldn’t debate these matters; no one stresses strict adherence to the Constitution more than I do. But the danger is that when we stare intently at and stand too close to one piece of the puzzle, it appears bigger and seems like the whole world. And if we fail to take a step back and gain perspective, we won’t see that there is a big picture, one formed by countless prohibitionary pieces.”