Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
I was thinking today that I'd talk a little about freedom, first because it is Memorial Day and we respectfully remember those who fought to preserve our liberties, but also because freedom is a topic that I've been touching on in different ways in recent days.
We all want life, liberty and to be able to pursue happiness, but sometimes the things we do endangers our freedoms. Lack of responsibility and good judgment puts freedom at risk. Not that all restrictions on freedom are wise or just, but restrictions are often, not always, a reaction to something done without good judgement.
On smaller matters such as metal detecting, we often lose our liberties because someone somewhere did something stupid or harmful or maybe something that just didn't look good. Leaving unsightly holes is one small example. The hole might not actually be dangerous, but someone, perhaps too many someones, or someone with too much power, might see it that way.
I don't want you to get the idea here that I'm putting something like our metal detecting issues at the same level as wars and the loss of life suffered by those in the military. I'm definitely not, but this is a blog on metal detecting and many of the same principles apply whether we are talking about large or small freedoms. I often heard, "Take care of your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves." Take care of the small things and the large things will be taken care of as well.
Ronald Reagan once said, “I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: as government expands, liberty contracts.”
H. L. Mencken said, “The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it.” I believe we face a lot of that these days.
We get more rules, laws and regulations when we need them, or when we don't need them but when someone has been able to convince enough people that we do.
Not all decisions are made with honesty, good judgement or knowledge. That is true for each of us and governments too. The result is that there are at times conflicts, and there are issues worth fighting for.
Not all decisions are made with honesty, good judgement or knowledge. That is true for each of us and governments too. The result is that there are at times conflicts, and there are issues worth fighting for.
Government seems to have fewer and fewer limits as people are crammed closer and closer together and more and more people depend upon the government for more and more.
I find it interesting to listen to talk shows and hear how so many people are willing to give away freedoms and liberties these days. People give their lives for our freedoms and then we give the same freedoms away because of fear, laziness, convenience, or stupidity.
I guess there will always be that tension. Freedoms will always be at stake. It will require vigilance and good judgement, whether we are talking about the basic freedoms of life and liberty or smaller things.
Of the smaller things, we often think it really doesn't matter, but maybe it does. What are you willing to let slide? Where do you make your stand?
Big things matter, but so do little things.
Remember,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
