Today we celebrate our Great Nation’s independence and
freedom. As we’ve often been reminded, freedom isn’t free. While I passionately agree and feel the cost of
our freedom is too often trivialized and ignored, I think there’s another
conversation that needs to be discussed. Freedom is a gift and we are immensely
blessed to be born in this country and during this time. However, like any
gift, that freedom must be both accepted and utilized to be fully appreciated. In
this country, freedom is a choice we must make.
Although our nation affords us great freedoms, we too often
reject those freedoms and choose to live in bondage of one form or another.
As of the end of 2017, the average credit card balance was nearly
$16k, the average mortgage was just under $180k, the average auto loan was
approaching $28k and the average student loan was over $47K. How much of your
budget goes to paying creditors including mortgages, 20%? 30%? More? If 30% of
your budget goes to payments of some kind or another and you are in a 20% tax
bracket then you are working HALF the year for someone else. Does that sound
like freedom? On top of this, statistics show about 10 million Americans are
addicted to gambling with a monetary cost of $6 billion annually, not to
mention the social and psychological factors. Money can be great tool to build
independence and help others, but too often it enslaves us.
The issue goes far beyond finances though. Studies show over
23 million Americans over the age of 12 struggle with substance abuse including
alcohol, illicit drugs and prescription medication. It is estimated nearly 40
million Americans are currently consuming cigarettes on a regular basis,
directly leading to upwards of half a million deaths annually. How about food? In
2016 the CDC reported over 93 million US adults were obese – 40% of the adult population
– triggering medical costs approaching $150 billion. Even more tragic, it was
reported the previous year 12 million children were already obese. All this
shows how we have chosen to become prisoners of wretched masters, hell bent on
our own destruction.
Maybe you are very frugal with your spending and disciplined
about what you put into your body. But do you consume other harmful substances?
There are nearly 70 million DAILY search engine requests for pornographic material
– about a quarter of all search engine requests – destroying marriages and intimacy.
A 2014 report showed 34 million “gamers” spending an average
of 22 hours per week on a gaming console. In 2017, the average social media user
spent over two hour a day on social network sites, contributing to the three
hours a day the average adult US citizen spends on their phone. But you don’t
have time to read or workout or invest in the lives of your loved ones?
Remember, we have not been forcibly imprisoned; we have willingly put on these
shackles.
Furthermore, we are going to jobs we can’t stand for a
paycheck we complain about so we can buy things we can’t afford to impress
people we don’t like. Have you ever traded away part of your soul for a steady
salary, a mediocre health plan and a 3% 401k match?
We are held captive by the opinions of others, or at least
what we think they think about us. We remain ensnared by bitterness, jealousy,
greed … I could go on and on but I think I have made my point. I hope at least some
of this is hitting home.
If we really lived as free men and women, I’d be willing to
wager we would appreciate our freedoms much more. We have the option of amazing
and unparalleled independence in this country, but it must be harnessed. It must
be exercised. Freedom certainly isn’t free, but we must also recognize its cost
of ownership. Each and every day, you
must continue to fight for your own independence and freedom. Don’t cheapen the
sacrifice of those who fought and died so you could live free by settling for a
life of bondage.
*Photo compliments of Hannah Tacci
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