two hundred fifty eight

 

FREEDOM

Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint, and the absence of a despotic government.... The right to freedom of association is recognized as a human right, a political freedom and a civil liberty.

 1 : the condition of having liberty The slaves won their freedom. 

 2 : ability to move or act as desired freedom of choice freedom of movement. 

 3 : release from something unpleasant freedom from care. 

 4 : the quality of being very frank : candor spoke with freedom. 

 5 : a political right freedom of speech.

I don't want to make this blog political so my focus is not on the "R" or "D" tribal crap it is focused on "us" and "them". I was born in 1951 in a small town founded by Quakers in 1806. There is a history of Abolitionists and a stop on the Underground Railroad. 

There are no active Quaker meeting houses but the town has about 30 churches and 30 bars. The school mascot is Quaker Sam so we were the home of the fighting pacifists. 

I was a free range kid, be home when the street lights come on, but that was even optional. Summers were a year long and our play ranged from the Little Rascals to the Lord of the Flies. We hunted, trapped, played pick up baseball that was more like dodge ball, because of the lack of players you were out if the ball hit you. We actually had unsanctioned by any responsible parent BB gun fights. The rules were, only three pumps and no head shots......yeah right. 

School was still basic, we had reading, writing, math, and recess twice a day this was my all time favorite. Shut up was a swear word and Miss Herginrouther lead us in a thankful prayer before lunch. 

When I was in elementary school I walked with the neighborhood kids. We had the most fun plus a little drama on the way to and from school, there was a creek on the way. In Middle school and High School I rode the bus until I was 16 then I had my first car a 1963 Chevrolet Corvair.

I remember getting on the school bus with my 22 caliber JC Higgins rifle, I kept it in my locker through the day because we were going hunting after school. I learned rifle safety in Boy Scouts and no one thought a thing about it. . 

There were kids with rifle racks in their pick up trucks but it was nothing like the red neck actors on Netflix. I can't say we were in a gun culture they were just there, we learned very young not to fear them.  

We knew very young to respect guns, we were trained in their proper  use and handling. To us they were just tools or machines not selfdefense or offensive weapons. I do imagine there were people that thought that way, but it never entered our minds. 

Over the years I lost any interest I had for firearms, but I do see a need for the right to have the option. I knew a very petite woman who worked late in a strip mall salon until after sunset. She drove alone fifty miles on a crowded freeway with a large amount of cash so a cell phone and a fire arm made sense for her peace of mind. 

Most homes in our town were not locked, cars had the keys in the ignition and the danger of walking alone on a dark street was the danger of tripping or stepping in a hole. 

Men stood when women entered a room. No hats at the dinner table, no elbows on the table and my brother and I had to ask permission to leave the table. No one would swear in front of a child and men watched their language in front of women. There was even a limit on how men used profanity around other men.

If boys or even big boys that are called men got in a fight it was one on one, no weapons and it was over when their was a decided advantage. They usually sorted out whatever it was in one fight, some avoided one another and some shook hands. Fighting is usually stupid but there was a sense of honor and unwritten rules.

Sundays were amazing, we had the "Blue Laws" in effect. Only one gas station was open and a pharmacy was open until noon. There were many options to Sunday, most people went to church, many went fishing or took a drive (gas was 30 cents a gallon). The younger ones would cruise, go to the lake or play baseball or flag/tackle no helmet football. They did sell 3.2% beer but  the bars were not open. My choice was buying enough beer before 6 pm on Saturday night.

My point to all of this is, I grew up free. It sounds like we had plenty of rules but they were rules based on honor, respect and a sense of right and wrong. We took civics and history in school, we learned how the country was founded, how government works, but mostly the responsibility of being a citizen. We were encouraged to think for ourselves, the only pressure to conform was to obey the laws. We were taught how to participate in government and how to approach everything with the underpinning of virtue. 

I wrote a report on President John Adams my favorite quote is : "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

This quote is revealing today. I grew up thinking our leaders had this virtue but decade after decade things must have changed. I for a long time have seen our corporate media lose direction but there has always been someone dedicated to telling the truth. It is getting harder and harder to find this. Because of this we were taught to question things and read between the lines. I have no clue what my teachers politics were it wasn't my business so I didn't ask. 

The freedom of speech is being challenged at a level I have not seen in my life, but this is a bicycle blog. The freedom of movement is what I worry about. The fact that I have traveled coast to coast and the length of our coastlines both Atlantic and Pacific feeds my wanderlust.

I have traveled in other ways to Europe, Canada and Mexico. Crossing international borders does feel invasive but they have a right to be picky about who they let in to their country.  Agricultural inspection in California and Hawaii are for a reason but it still feels invasive. Traveling by air is really invasive but if you want on you just bite the bullet (figure if speech). 

Secret no fly lists, surveillance, facial recognition, fingerprint log in and GPS tracking give the user a great deal of information and control. I think back about the John Adams quote and wonder if the powers that be still have that virtue.

The freedom I enjoyed as a kid was local. The Federal government was mostly hands off in those days. As you read this you may think my up bringing was limited or repressed. The truth is we were kids that were subject to every adult that witnessed our misbehavior. We learned how to act by watching the adults around us who modeled proper behavior. 

They  realized we were watching their every move so they monitored their own behavior. It sounds prudish or backward but the changes in our culture and the invacive "help" of the Federal Government may have a hand in the loss of virtue today.

My mode of transportation will probably go under the radar, but as a free citizen protected by the Constitution I wonder how free I am today. It seems the things that were so innocent have now been redefined and have become evil. I have been redefined by my gender and skin color. I have been pushed into a group I have never identified with and who knows my thoughts and opinions may one day be declared hateful. 

I am truly disturbed by resent events and once again it isn't an "R" and "D" thing it is an us and them thing. My heart breaks for the level of hate that is out there trying to divide us. The only thing that will heal this division is that the average citizen not participate in the hatred. Talk to each other see a person not a tribal member. Go back to a simpler time and expect virtue from our leaders. We gave them power they need to be responsible to us and I mean all of us.

I have no answers or a plan of action, things will be what they will be. I am writing this not because my team won or lost it is because I'm old enough to know what we are losing and that my heart breaks for our young people,  they may never know true freedom.