ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Recently, I wrote that freedom is the antidote to the disease of socialism.

While that is true, freedom does much more than simply counteract the infection that socialism breeds in the lives and souls of people and of nations.

Freedom creates, energizes and springs forth joy. It is the place where dreams are realized and where people are allowed to try, fail and rise to try again. Freedom is the state in which human beings don’t just live but thrive.

America’s founders understood the value and necessity of freedom to the human soul. In the preamble to the Constitution, they firmly stated that a key purpose in establishing the Constitution was to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

The “Blessings of Liberty.” How beautiful. And how incredibly loving that America’s founders sought to establish a system that would secure such blessings not just for themselves but for generations to come.

Blessings such as being able to express your opinion without fear of punishment from the government; blessings that come when you are free to practice your faith without fear of government reprisal; and blessings like being able to pursue your dreams, own property and live under a limited government that does not get in the way of making your own path in life.

Do you feel energized and excited when you take risks to turn an idea into a reality? That is a blessing of liberty. Do you feel peaceful satisfaction when you earn a paycheck and provide good things for your family through hard work? That is a blessing of liberty.

The founders were the first in a long line of Americans wiling to sacrifice their very lives so that others might enjoy the gifts of freedom. Compare that utter selflessness to the dictators of socialism who murder to protect their power and privilege, and you begin to understand the spiritual nature of these diametrically opposed forces. While freedom blesses, socialism curses.

A curse of socialism is the stifling despair that comes with being dependent on someone else. A curse of socialism is the personal loss and shame that are felt when you know that you are not living up to your potential.

Socialism takes money from some and dignity from everyone else. Like a thief in the night, it steals production and prosperity from nations when minds have been lulled to sleep by vain promises of utopia. The elusive unicorn of “fairness” is socialism’s mascot, while freedom rides on the wings of eagles.

Freedom gives life; socialism demands death. When economic socialism progresses into political socialism, that means the taking of life itself.

But both forms of the disease always result in the death of individuality, creativity, ingenuity and dreams. Instead of viewing each person as unique and equipped with different talents, skills and weaknesses, socialism lumps human beings into “classes” — rich versus poor, black versus white, male versus female.

The list of classes of people has become endless. Why? Because socialism is birthed in class warfare, hatred and chaos.

That is why the so-called “progressives” and their allies in the mass media are always creating tension where there is none, promoting discontent and pitting American against American. It’s called the “politics of envy” for a reason.

The end result of the calculated creation of hatred and chaos? Authoritarianism — with ever more regulations, laws and policing of not just actions but ideas.

And then there’s the forced participation in supporting even the wildest ideas of others. While freedom would permit me to live out the erroneous idea that I am actually a man, authoritarianism would make you behave as if you believe my idea too.

Will America renew its commitment to secure the blessings of liberty for our children or grow weary in the battle, dooming our sons and daughters to the curses of socialism?

Our children’s future depends on the commitment of each individual to rise up and fight another day against the lies and the oppression that are dimming the light of freedom. We must raise our voices and drown out the siren song of benevolence that politicians perform in an effort to lure and stupefy the masses, but that government can never deliver.

We must boldly proclaim that liberty offers the blessings human beings crave, that freedom alone gives life and that it is freedom we are created to breathe and without which we and our nation will surely die.

• Rebecca Hagelin can be reached at [email protected]

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