Special guest columnist report: Are We Free?
The balance sheet of freedom
By Craig J. Cantoni
Have Americans become more or less free over the last century? Let’s examine some facts before attempting an answer.
Look at three categories of freedom: civil liberties, economic freedom and size of government. As a starting point, balance sheets appear below for each category. Since the balance sheets are a work in progress, you are encouraged to offer additional facts and to point out where the balance sheets may be incorrect.
A. CIVIL LIBERTIES
On the plus side, the last century has seen:
• The end of segregation
• The enforcement of voting rights
• Increased tolerance for Jews, Catholics, homosexuals and other minorities
• Women’s suffrage
On the minus side, the last century has seen:
• State-endorsed affirmative action and set-asides that favor some races
• Speech codes on college campuses
• McCain-Feingold and other laws that restrict political speech
• The War on Drugs, which includes the prosecution of people who harm no one but themselves
• Ever-growing restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms
• The demonizing and massive taxing of people who enjoy tobacco
• Eminent domain abuses and other infringements of property rights
• Increased state involvement in the private and religious matter of holy matrimony
• Overwhelming state involvement in the personal matter of health care
• Social engineering by the left and right through the tax code
• The Patriot Act (which some say protects liberty by taking a lot of it away)
• An erosion of federalism (states’ rights) through new federal agencies and regulations, such as the Department of Education and the No Child Left Behind law
• The adoption of Blaine amendments in 38 states (which had the stated purpose of stopping the public funding of private schools but the real purpose of putting Catholic schools out of business)
• A slow and steady transformation of the nation from a constitutional republic to a majority-rule democracy, thus paving the way for the tyranny of the majority
Note: Some plusses and minuses are not listed, because they cancel each other out or were short-lived. For example, the 21st amendment canceled the 18th amendment (Prohibition). And the internment of the Japanese during WWII and the Alien and Sedition Acts of WWI were egregious but short-lived.
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