Exploring the meaning of Liberty?

We live in an interconnected Global World! Thanks to technology. Instead of wasting energy on fighting or whining, perhaps it is time to channel our energies in working together to make our World a better place.

I will focus on Latin America because it is where I have had the pleasure of traveling on business, a few years ago. I found one common denominator, Liberty! Hard working and loving people, yet many want to live in America and the same goes for many other nations and cultures.

Many Americans may say America is hated by certain nations. I do not think nor believe America is hated, I think America is envied by its free will to continue in its spirit of liberty, peace, freedom, justice and prosperity.   If not, you would not be here and many would not seek her.

America is great as all the Nations in one way or another have their own Greatness, except for those that refuse to come out of the Cold War mentality and continue to spread toxic fumes to the environment.

Perhaps as Americans and especially politicians, can go back to simple basics of what this Great nation was founded on and it is what makes her unique. Never forget your history for the moment you do, is when you will lose your freedom and liberties.

Exploring the meaning of LIBERTY?

Some information from the Breed’s Hill Institute:

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Where Liberty dwells, there is my country.”

Powerful words… and slightly unsettling ones. Would Franklin have us believe that he was not wholly devoted to the United States? Or did he mean to suggest that if America abandoned Liberty it would no longer be his country? America was founded on the ideas of Independence, Justice, and most of all, Liberty.

But when the founding generation spoke of Liberty did they mean the same thing we do when we speak the word? We know that the meaning and power of the words can change over time.

The founders talk about Liberty and Freedom as two separate but connected ideals. Both these words contain the idea of possessing the ability to exercise one’s will, and a power to choose. However, in many ways the words differ. Liberty comes from the Latin word libertas, which means “unbounded, unrestricted or released from constraint.”

We hear many nations wanting to be free and have liberty, perhaps they can learn what it takes to have Liberty from our Nations Founders and take the best of America and make it even better. The Founders saw Liberty as the opposite of tyranny. Freedom from dependence on another’s will. The ability to choose one’s own way without interference.

My search for the Founder’s definition of Liberty has been one that challenged my own previous thoughts on the subject. The Founders threw down a gauntlet during the Revolutionary War that began a journey towards Liberty. These Founder’s own words reveal that they knew it could not be achieved in their lifetimes, but would be a generational destiny. They mapped out a path and left markers for us to follow. I wonder in our age, do we have the courage to follow that path?   In the end, the question will be this: If our nation is defined by the word Liberty, how will we define the word?

The sad facts are in.

In recent studies only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. Yet more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family The Simpsons.

One out of four college seniors were unable to distinguish Karl Marx’s words from the ideas of the United States Constitution.

We don’t need to wonder if we are developing a culturally illiterate society, we’ve already done it. Not one of the 55 universities polled in the above study requires a course in United States history for graduation.

Than we wonder why things are falling apart, to have a strong foundation you need a strong base and it starts at home than in schools.