Choose a United States of America

I don’t think anybody will argue that this Independence Day will be unlike any in anybody’s lifetime. There is sure to be protesting in the streets, sure to be civil unrest amongst many, sure to be the strangulations of freedom and all for what? The loss of liberties.

I happen to agree with folks saying that freedom is being lost and when you start talking about racism as the cause then you lose me. The oppression I see has no tie to color of skin but rather affects all equally. I won’t even identify one “race” or another because it goes beyond all of that. Oppression is real and, much like a recent column, the government seeks to silence those who speak the loudest in favor of preserving our inalienable rights given to us not by our Founding Fathers but by God himself.

I have found this Thomas Paine quote that I think gives us great insight into life today:

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”

The sacrifices of so many before us have granted us the right to be, point blank, spoiled. Only a nation that wants for nothing expects everything to be handed to them. We can pretend the historical events created what has become the greatest national experience on Earth cannot be changed whether a statue is standing or fallen. We started teaching a selective portrayal of history in our government-funded school systems so how can anyone be surprised that fools choose to erase actual history?

So in the big picture I see parallels and conflicts with my personal views about building a more promising future. I embrace the history that made us, I echo the need to get loud, to exercise our constitutional rights to the fullest extent. Where I draw the line quite simply is the disrespect for others’ property and life.

I, too, would like to think that I have been leading a revolution with these very words (that is not a statement to its effectiveness) but we must motivate the masses. You see this free nation tends to accept things as they are until our backs are against the wall and then, baby, look out!

“I don’t want to be the next target.” If I had a dollar for every time I have heard that, we would be debt free. Every step the government, federal or state, makes to “protect us,” we lose a bit of liberty. Even today we see folks tearing stuff up on Main Street and we root for a law enforcement officer to go put a stop to it. With every thug on a street burning other folks’ property, all of that comes back to bite you and I. And then you will be the next target even if you have chosen to stay silent in the background instead of taking a stand.

At the end of the day, on this Independence Day 2020, our family will continue to “pledge allegiance” to the flag of the United States of America, In fact, you know as well as I do, that every man or woman who has contributed to our freedom did so for a “united” states approach not the United States. If 2020 challenges have not taught us anything else, we should have learned that not all states operate the same way. Thanks to those brave men and women who risk it all to protect our freedom, including the freedom to choose which state we call home.

Editor’s note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].