As an American, I was obliged to celebrate one of our most time-honored holidays, Thanksgiving. As part of the tradition, many families across America take time before Thanksgiving dinner to express what they are thankful for in their lives. In the spirit of Thanksgiving I would like to talk a bit about a couple of the things I am thankful for.
As an American, I am thankful for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In today’s world it is easy for government to enter into a slippery slope were rights can be reasoned away. This has never been more apparent than in Britain where we see government stepping into homes and telling more than adequate parents how to raise their children. Invasion of privacy is now perceived as something only criminals should fear, and anyone speaking out against big government is branded as ‘ignorant’ or ‘obtuse’. While things are far from perfect in America, it is comforting to know there is a document that draws a line somewhere; that we at least have a platform to stand on when arguing for personal liberties.
I am also thankful to be living in a socially and economically free country. While we still live in a free Britain, there are many politicians with good intentions that would seek to take that away. Limiting individual and business income with massively high marginal tax rates is what many government leaders believe to be the moral thing to do. Government intervention in the economy has cost thousands of individuals their jobs, and yet they still preach that the solution to the problem is more intrusive action. We are losing the ability to be economically independent of government.
In reality, there is a lot to be thankful for even if you sincerely believe that government is slowly changing that fact. But while we still have a chance we need to stop this wave of government expansion. It is imperative that we stop the massive amounts of public spending and curb the intrusion of government into our personal lives. We need to make the world a place where future generations will still have freedom to be thankful for.
