July 2008

Freedom - What It Means To Me...

Another Independence Day holiday gone by.

Our 232nd Independence Day, in point of fact.

As countries go, we're not that old, but we're not brand new, either.

What we have, the condition known as "freedom", is rare in this world, and we Americans don't always know or realize what it means.

We can criticize our government openly, without fear of official reprisals - the "knock on the door" in the middle of the night.

We can vote for the person we think will make a better President - or, at least, vote against the person we don't think will.

We can travel where we want, read what we want, think what we want, write what we want... there are no restrictions on what we can do.

Ideally, that is.

There are laws passed in the past eight years that restrict our constitutional right of free assembly (according to the Patriot Act, any gathering of three or more people who criticize the government are in violation of the law. Look it up.), free travel (the border restrictions on U.S. citizens traveling to and from Canada - in 2009 rules are scheduled to go into effect that will require all border crossings to show a U.S. passport, whether by land, sea, or air.), and the First Amendment guarantees of free speech (see the abovementioned section of the Patriot Act).

As citizens, we should be outraged. As filmmakers, we should be finding ways to shout from the housetops, decrying these unconstitutional, totalitarian edicts that chip away at the foundations of our freedoms.

Do we? Only a very few... and, I'm ashamed to say, myself not among them.

And I'm even more ashamed to say that very few of us are listening.

Benjamin Franklin said, "Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security."

Have we traded our birthright for a false feeling of security, a glamour that will blind our eyes to truth?

I would hope not, but I wouldn't bet the house payment on it.

Cheers!

Al B.