Dear Editor: Freedom

Dear Editor,

I’m not what most people would call a patriot. Don’t get me wrong, I love where I live, but I’m not willing to die for the American Way. I certainly don’t view this country as my Fatherland or Motherland, for that matter.

However, I DO appreciate the relative freedom we still enjoy in this nation compared to other countries. It would seem that we still enjoy more personal freedom than other areas of the so-called Third World. Even what personal freedoms we have seem to be fading fast, but we can still freely exercise them, to whatever extent, for now! However, it would seem that things are quickly escalating from bad to worse, especially in the midst of the current pandemic.

Coming to the point of this letter: What has happened to our freedom? What IS freedom?

If freedom is the ability to do what you want, when you want and how you want, then the first question is very valid. When one has to have permission (license) to do whatever they want with their own land/property, one must look hard at two brutal truths. One, we don’t OWN said land/property. Two, we aren’t truly free, like we think!

“Freedom isn’t free.” I get that. Speaking of patriots, we hear this quoted a lot in reference to our American brothers and sisters across the globe, who are “keeping the world safe for democracy.” However, with the U.S. policy of the preemptive strike, one is given pause to wonder if we aren’t playing the part of the mythical Ouroboros, not just metaphorically, but really, biting our own...tail.

What HAS happened to our freedom?! Well, for one thing, freedom ISN’T free. The American people, in general, have given over their responsibility to our government, who, in course, have taken many of our precious freedoms! Along with that, with freedom comes responsibility.

This is where patriotism comes in. In this day and age, in particular, a patriot is willing to take a stand for freedom. One might think of figures like LaVoy Finnicum, or most recently, Kyle Rittenhouse, and others like them. However, we must ask ourselves whether they went about it the right way. Another question: Is it too late?

As always, I invite anyone who wishes to discuss what is written here to do so openly and respectfully!

Charles Haddon Shank

Whitehall, Montana