Protect Me From Protection

by
Suzann Darnall

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety". - Benjamin Franklin

Our government needs to learn its proper role in our lives. It needs to realize that there are different forms of protection and stay focused on the protection it needs to provide and quit trying to force on us protections we don't require.

I look at it kinda simplistic. We need our government to be a bodyguard . . . not a nanny. We are adults, not children. We need to be protected from attacks. Our bodyguard needs to be in the form of police, military, etc. Oh, I know, they also need to keep roads in repair, and other such service, but I am focusing merely on protections, 'cause they seem to keep doing things to infringe upon our freedoms in the name of keeping us safe. So, I want them to be a bodyguard, not a nanny!

But, our current government seems overwhelmingly leaning towards the left and the nanny-state model. They want to baby us. To infringe upon our freedom of choice until liberty has been swaddled to death in a blanket of protections. They want to be a nanny, not a bodyguard! And, I do not approve!!!

I don't want or need a nanny. I don't need my life safety-proofed like a nanny does for children. You know what I mean: locking up the medicine cabinet, child-proofing the pantry and fridge, deciding when it's time to nap, what I get to eat, my mode of transportation, reprimanding me for inappropriate language, telling me what to believe, how much allowance I am given, what I can spend my allowance on, how much playtime I get, etc. I am an adult I can decide these things . . . and others . . . for myself.

I want government out of my wallet, bank account, medicine cabinet, pantry, bedroom, kitchen, garage, lunch box, vocabulary, and pretty much all personal, private, familial, social, and religious parts of my life. I can make my own decisions regarding these aspects of my life. As I said, I need a bodyguard, not a nanny. I need to be protected from those who would do me harm, not protected from my self.

We have a seemingly never-ending inundation of assaults on our personal liberties with all the protection and safety issues our government is concerned with nowadays. And, most of them are none of their business! Protect me from terrorists. Protect me from hostile governments. Protect me from foreign drug wars spilling across our border. But, I do not need to be protected from the environment, fatty foods, sugar highs, fossil fuels, political incorrectness, or the myriad other everyday things that Americans choose to indulge in or ignore all together.

Don't tell me what kind of car to drive. Don't tax my favorite junk foods in an effort to deprive me of them. Don't try to label me as a hate-monger because I do not espouse the politically correct mantra the liberal media works so hard to spoon-feed us every day in every way. Don't force me to exercise or diet because your so-called medical experts have decided this or that healthy option of the week is in our best interests. In short, don't treat me like a child who needs to be guided and/or punished every moment of every day.

Treat me like an adult. Be my bodyguard, not my nanny. Keep me safe from those who would do me harm. Then, let me make my own personal choices. Allow me my freedom. Even if it is freedom to fail, suffer, or die. Like Benjamin Franklin, I am not willing to sacrifice freedom for security.

© Suzann C. Darnall, FEBRUARY 2012

Look for us on Facebook at WoolyMammoth.Org