The Importance of Acknowledging Our Serfdom
My favorite freedom quotation is by Johann Goethe: “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” That statement perfectly captures the plight of the American people. Owing mostly to the indoctrination they receive in the government schools to which their parents were forced to send them, most Americans honestly believe that they live in a free society. Their mindsets are reflected in the words of the popular song by Lee Greenwood: “I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.”
Why is acknowledging the truth and the reality about one’s seldom so important? Because if someone falsely believes he is free, he has no incentive to break his chains. Since in his mind he’s already free, he isn’t open to the things that need to be done to liberate him. He is grateful for his serfdom because he is convinced that it is freedom.
This is the greatest thing about Last Rights, the newest book by Jim Bovard, who has long served as a senior fellow and a regular contributor here at The Future of Freedom Foundation. It provides Americans with a powerful dose of truth and reality about their condition. I guarantee you: There is no way that anyone who reads this book will come away thinking he’s free. In chapter after chapter, Bovard explains with real-life examples and exquisite analysis how Americans have had their freedom destroyed and are now living lives as serfs.
Swat teams bashing down people’s doors in the middle of the night. A vicious drug war that has not only destroyed liberty but also given rise to drug cartels and the violence that comes with them. Gun-control measures that have destroyed the right of self-defense. Covid lockdowns that brought massive economic destruction and dislocation to people’s lives. Public-school systems that turn minds into malleable mush that fall for whatever official narrative is being put out. Federal largess that has made millions of Americans hopelessly dependent on the dole. A massive federal surveillance scheme that, as Bovard puts it, “leaves no room for dissent.” A forever “war on terrorism” that
Article from The Future of Freedom Foundation
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