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What then is liberty?

Wednesday, July 4 at 12:01 AM

This Speakout has not been edited

By Allen Campbell, Colorado Springs

Lately I have been studying the early actions of our forefathers and what their problems were in writing the documents that established the United States of America as a sovereign nation. It may be little known that this almost did not happen, due to the arguments between federalists and states rights advocates. That part of our history would take volumes to tell but, in the end they worked it out in what we now proudly hail as our Constitution. The first ten amendments to that document are called the Bill of Rights and the greatest champion of including these rights in the constitution did so by unending oratory about the need to include them if the newly formed government were not become the very thing they fought the revolutionary war to escape, tyranny. His name was Henry Adams. He said “ give us liberty and you can withhold all the rest". Another, more known statement of the time was; “ give me liberty or give me death".

What then is this liberty that was so important to the first patriots that they would pledge their very life to defend it. It is defined as; “freedom or release from slavery, imprisonment, captivity or any other form of arbitrary control". The first three of these took a long time to implement. The fourth has not yet become reality. Arbitrary is defined as; 1. not fixed by rules but left to to one’s judgement or choice—- 2. based on ones preference, notion, whim, etc; capricious. 3. despotic, absolute.

I say that we have not yet been granted freedom of, or release from, arbitrary control yet because our state legislators use arbitrary whims, notions and personal preferences all the time in enacting laws. I know that the majority of people are unaware that legislators do not have to adhere to standards of proof or factual evidence when enacting laws. They only have to BELIEVE a law is necessary to impose it on the public. A belief is an opinion, a notion of the rightness of something. This Belief does not need to be proven by fact or even apparent truth. In other words, legislators can pass any law they want without a thought given to it’s proven necessity or the rightness of it. In any other profession that standard would insure failure. Would you accept a doctor telling you his belief was that you had cancer without even examining you, would you accept an estimate from a plumber, an electrician, a mechanic or a ditch digger that told you he believed certain work or repairs were necessary without even looking at the problem and investigating what was needed. Why then do you accept laws enacted by politicians for reasons that you would throw any craftsman out the door for.

I think it might be a good idea if you, the taxpaying public, insisted that when state legislators enact a law, they must require at least as much factual reason and evidence for doing so as you would require from a ditch digger. By the way, this was the way the smoking ban was passed. Without establishing need based on investigation of all the available evidence but only relying on the statements of tobacco control advocates and their privately funded “on demand studies” that contradict the seven year study and it’s findings of the eminent federal agency, OSHA , charged with enforcing the safety of work places and workers and which study and findings have been upheld in federal appeals courts. Hell may have no fury like a woman scorned but, that is nothing compared to the fury of a people made aware that they have been lied to by those who they elected to represent their best interests. Rest assured this will be made apparent in the very near future.

Allen Campbell is Senior VP of the Coalition for Equal Rights

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