Don't be fooled - Your freedoms are under threat - Every.Single.Day. Stay Vigilant and Informed!

I recently picked up this gorgeous 2-Troy round from SilverShield and I asked myself why this had so much appeal for me. I don't know what the hell they are teaching our youth in American schools these days, but I was fortunate to be taught all about true patriotism and what it means to be an American citizen according to our nation's founders. I am ever-grateful for the important lessons I was taught that still guide my thinking and politics today. A good understanding of world history is critical for an informed populace to be enabled to weigh-in on matters of freedom and society.

Most people have seen enough movies that even if they don't know jack about history, they have a general sense of what the "Dark/Middle" Ages were like. It was awful. All that pent up frustration gave way to the Renaissance. A beautifully humanistic period during which all kinds of science and art and culture was produced. A side effect of all this focus on what individuals could accomplish is that Monarchy-threatening notions began to surface. People like Voltaire (1694 - 1778) helped spread all sorts of ideas such as, "To hold a pen is to be at war" and "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere". With all these ideas, rebellious energy, and resentment swirling around in the collective mind, it wasn't long before this period gave way to the Age of Enlightenment/Revolutions - enter the American Revolution.

My country was founded on the principle that we should never put too much trust in a government, since its power should come from the collective strength of it's people. Thomas Paine (1736 - 1809), one of the founding fathers of our Constitution is credited with saying/writing, "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil". The FF's went on to provide for all sorts of checks and balances, separation of powers, etc., designed to prevent a tyrannical government and keep balance. Eventually, they added the Bill of Rights, which went even further to guarantee freedoms and prevent various potential abuses by government. Here is another beautiful round by Silver Shield commemorating another important FF, Mr. James Madison. In his words:

Pardon the slightly blurry picture - believe me, there is a ton of detail here.

In any case, here is the point. The collective wisdom that inspired the actions and writings and events that in turn, brought us to this point in time, were driven by an abundance of caution and a focus on preventing government from becoming too powerful. I think we can all agree that no matter where you live, every year there are more laws, more regulations, and potentially more ways to lose your freedom, lose your rights, and/or lose your wealth/money. Everyday things are more restrictive, not less. Personal and individual freedoms are often granted in exchange for losing rights to what really matters - free speech, right to assembly, right to bear arms, etc, etc. Typically, these things are framed as a way to "keep you safer" or as a way to "prevent loss". We were never intended to be baby-sat by the state. We were intended to be masters of our government and have them fear us. Look around. Do you really think they fear the people today? Instead, I am fearful that we are being conditioned to cede rights and privileges under the guise of safety, and I call bullshit. So did Mr. Thomas Jeffferson, as commemorated by the rockstars at Silver Shield:

Please, stay vigilant. Do not lose one Troy ounce of freedom. Because, you must understand that the laws build upon each other through court precedent. One concession today will become tomorrow's amendment to our constitution and there is no telling what kind of sacrifices we'll need to make later on in order to get those rights back, if ever. Remember the Patriot act? It was supposed to be temporary - it isn't. Once you give them power, you don't get it back.

"...cause rules were meant to be broken, but you can't make broken rules..." - Ludacris, from Southern Fried Intro

(sorry I had to, this was one of my jams in college and this part of the lyric always resonated with me :) )

Lastly, the US constitution was pretty clear about how we should be handling money. Disclaimer - I'm what is known as a strict constructionist. Look it up!

[see http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/essays/general/a-brief-history-of-central-banking/money-and-the-constitution.php]

Depending on how you look at this, all that transpired since can be seen as another example of the "slippery slope" of dangerously misinterpreting the constitution and the uninformed/indifferent masses allowing it to be codified to the detriment of future generations' freedoms, further eroding the strength of a nation.

So, keep a watchful eye on your leaders and stack on my friends!

Additional Sources:

https://www.ocregister.com/2011/07/08/walter-williams-framers-distrusted-loathed-democracy/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_American_currency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_time_periods
Google search of Voltaire quotes

Special thanks to God and all my teachers over the years. Somehow, they made sure I learned all the right lessons and fed my rebel spirit well!

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