Rosy Glow – The Freest Nation

By

Bob LaTorre

Here is one of Cousin Bob’s Rosy Glows from 25 years ago.

On many occasions in this column and in my public speaking, I have said, “The United States of America is the freest nation in the world. Needless to say I am not the only one to have ever uttered those words. But no matter how many times I read them hear them or speak them, I still find that many Americans still doubt the truth of the statement.

To some extent, this attitude on the part of some of us is the result of having been born into and lived with this freedom all of our lives. Sadly, many other Americans simply do not believe it. Their disbelief is to a large extent the result of hearing and seeing the skeptical attitude of members of the media, the entertainment industry, and the educational system.

Each of these institutions is obsessed by what they believe is their divine mission to insure ”Fairness”. Many members of these professions feel that using the superlative in anything, especially when referring to the United States, is somehow unfair.  The argument goes something like this “How can you say that this country is, the greatest, the best, the wealthiest, or the freest? Just look and at his point they describe in detail some failing which has occurred in the nation’s history. How can we be great, look at what we did to the Indians, (excuse me, Native Americans). How can you say that we are the best when the Duchy of Fizlandia has a lower death rate among people over six feet tall? How can you say we are the richest when the per capita income in Saudi Arabia is nearly twice as much as ours? The fact that nobody works in that country, and that the income is from oil, and that the actual distribution of that income is mainly to the sheik and his family, is not important to the fairness group.

How can you say we are the freest nation in the world?

Well let’s take a look at that question. To begin with, consider this fact. Of all the jury trials which take place in the world, ninety percent of them are held here in the good old U.S.A. and that’s a fact, Jack.

But to make the point a bit closer to home consider this, in all of your conversations, reading talk show listening, and in your own remarks about life today isn’t it interesting that the statement which we hear most often is, the police, the judges, the prisons and the entire judicial system is too soft on criminals.

Think about that, in most of the world people are screaming for justice and in this country we are concerned about not dealing harshly enough with robbers, and dope dealers.  In most other countries people seek to insure humane treatment for prisoners and here we are concerned because we are too soft on prisoners.

The truth is that almost all of our current social problems, dope, homeless, single parent homes, school drop-outs, economic under class, teen pregnancy, and unemployment could all be wiped out in thirty days if only we were willing to give up a little freedom for each problem.

Those are precisely the choices which the founding fathers were confronted with. Does anyone seriously believe that the same or similar problems did not exist in colonial times, are we naïve enough to think that somehow Americans in 1776 were some perfect group of people with no thieves, murderers, dope takers, and wife beaters.

Let me assure you that when the Constitution was written and the body of English Common Criminal Law was adopted as our own, the very same problems did indeed exist.

The founders decided in their infinite wisdom, that they were more willing to accept the weaknesses of a free society that the failures of one which was less free. They knew the difference because they had all grown up in tyranny.

When we look around and see some of these problems we should learn to recognize that often they are the direct measure of our personal freedom. To those who still wish for the changes which will bring about greater privilege, I refer you to the words of President Eisenhower who said “People who place privileges above principals, soon lose both.”

There is no doubt that our system, like any system, can be improved. But let’s never forget that it is currently the freest system on earth and when we go to fix it we stand a great risk of changing that too.

Meanwhile, the next time you hear or read that we are the freest people on earth, believe it and let the words fill you with a well-deserved….Rosy Glow.