By Chris Talgo
One of the most fundamental issues of civilization, which has existed since time immemorial, is the battle between liberty and tyranny.
Not that long ago in the grand sweep of history, it was generally accepted that most people were destined to live under the unquestioned authority of a pharaoh, king, czar, emperor, etc.
However, that all changed in the late eighteenth century, when the American colonists declared, and eventually won, their independence from the British Crown.
Ever since that pivotal event, the inspiring ideal of liberty has captivated people throughout the world.
Over the years, millions of people have emigrated to the United States, hoping to achieve the American Dream in the Land of Opportunity. Many more chose to remain in their homeland so that they could fight for freedom in their place of birth.
Of course, freedom does not come easy. If that were the case, freedom would be the default condition of human governance.
Unfortunately, freedom is the exception, not the norm. And during the past two-and-a-half centuries, we’ve witnessed unprecedented bloodshed as the industrialization of warfare has allowed monomaniacal tyrants to dream of world domination.
Over the same period, we’ve also seen the rise of an ideology that sounds good on its face but has killed more than 100 million people and left untold numbers of poor souls in abject poverty and terror. It goes by many names: communism, socialism, collectivism, and democratic socialism, just to name a few.
For different reasons, collectivist ideology has remained an enchanting vision for groups that would otherwise be at odds with one another. For the elites, it allows them to micromanage society. For the idle, it allows a life of ease. For the so-called social justice warriors, it feeds their endless appetite for empathy.
For all of society, it makes life, as Hobbes put it, “solitary, poor, nasty, short, and brutish.”
In my lifetime, I’ve seen the rise of collectivism here in the United States. To me, this is a strange turn of events.
When I was a little kid, the Cold War was still in place. In movies like "Red Dawn," the Soviet Union were the bad guys. We were the good guys.
Then the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed. By this time, I was old enough to understand what was happening. I remember the celebrations.
Fast-forward to the Obama years, when anti-Americanism became vogue and the sanctity of individual freedom was laughed at, if not scorned, in certain circumstances.
During the crescendo of the Obama era, I felt that freedom was on the wane, possibly for a very long time. After Obamacare, the rise of the Tea Party movement was a nice development, but it seemed like a bump in the road as the federal government’s size and scope increased rapidly.
Then, something quite unexpected happened. In 2016, the American people shocked the world and elected Donald Trump, a businessman with no political experience, to the highest office in the land.
Why did this happen? I think it had much to do with Trump’s commonsense policy agenda that emphasized freedom over tyranny.
The American people longed for the freedom to determine what is in their best interest based on their specific circumstances regarding a wide range of topics.
In 2020, we backslid. The election of Joe Biden, coupled with Democratic control of Congress, resulted in a huge expansion of the federal government. Never forget, when the government grows, liberty declines. From electric vehicle mandates to bans on household appliances, the Biden administration squashed individual choice in favor of the “greater good.”
Ironically, I think this overreach backfired. Regardless of Biden’s mental acuity, or lack thereof, I think the American people were displeased with his performance, particularly regarding his terrible economic policies that raised the price of nearly everything. Biden’s big government, freedom-squelching, nanny state provided the American people a sneak preview of what life is really like under socialism.
Thus, the American people overwhelmingly reelected Trump in 2024, as he doubled down on his freedom agenda. In Trump’s view, the government does not know best; the people do. So far, Trump’s second term has been a dream for those of us who cherish liberty.
Now, we the people can choose what kind of car we want to drive, what type of appliances we want to buy, what type of school we want to send our kids to, and what we want to do with the extra money the government won’t be able to take from us.
Donald Trump is not perfect, but he understands that the United States is the greatest nation in the world because of our freedom. Rest assured, freedom is winning!
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
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