Where are our priorities?

I’m wondering more and more where our priorities have gone. Look around and you will find…

…advisers telling individuals to not spend far beyond their means, as that is a surefire way to get into trouble, but we have a government which does this and more, and the people not only don’t question that practice, they call it “good”.

…individuals more concerned about whether they will have money today than whether they will have it tomorrow.

…individuals expecting someone, even the government, to be the insurer of last resort against their bad decisions.

…individuals more immediately concerned with the actions and views of others which have no bearing on their well-being than the actions of others that do.

…individuals feeling that their disagreements should result in the vacation of landmark Supreme Court rulings and new laws proscribing actions with which they disagree without fully examining the ramifications of such proscriptions.

…individuals referring to peaceful dissent and protest by millions of Americans as “illegitimate”, “astroturfing”, “anti-government”, yet violent protest that results in arrests, bodily harm, and property damage is called “legitimate”.

…lawsuits that result in 6- and 7-figure damages because individuals will not exercise self-restraint and personal responsibility.

…individuals and organizations blaming a particular scientific theory for all the ills of the world, while actively using deceitful and dishonest tactics to see the removal of said theory from public education for the preservation of “morality”.

…voters more concerned about whether a politician will pander to their particular political ideology than whether those same politicians will uphold and act only within the boundaries established by the Constitution.

Christopher Hitchens, in a lecture he gave before the University of Toronto, talked about how people, both Americans and Canadians alike, were willing to allow their personal freedoms to be eroded to avoid pissing off Muslims. In response to that observation, he asked a single, pointed question, “Where are your priorities, ladies and gentlemen?”

Pat Condell, another famous British atheist, famous for his uninhibited attacks on Muslims and Islam, has said in a video posted to YouTube on March 8, 2008, that we do not own the freedom we have, we are custodians of it and it is not ours to give away. It was earned for us with the blood and sweat of those who pre-date all of us.

Both men were talking about how we seem to be willingly giving up our freedom, and it is something that other parties are catering to and hoping will continue. We cannot let this happen.

We have much personal liberty and freedom, but with it comes the necessity of responsibility. There is no way around this. When you negate your own personal responsibility, you necessarily negate your own liberty. You cannot have one without the other.

You are responsible for your own liberty. So where are your priorities?