Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCCLXXXII

When you were in school, did you ever have to learn something and you would question how that could ever benefit you in real life?  If they would've paid me every time I asked that question, I could've retired before I ever started working. The thing I hated most was having to memorize poems, lines from plays, and portions of famous speeches, but I went ahead and learned them, and oddly enough, I can still quote most of them today. But the question is, am I benefitting from them in any way?  Well...I have to admit that lately I have been quoting one of them over and over as its real true meeting is starting to really sink into my brain. The date was March 20, 1775, when Patrick Henry stood before the Virginia Convention in Williamsburg and said, "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."  As a kid in school, those words were merely something to memorize for a passing grade in American History, but today as a sixty-one year old man, I am finding that they are starting to ring true in my mind.  The circumstances facing Patrick Henry and the other colonists back in the eighteenth century were different than what we face in our country today, but his message still has meaning for us 238 years later. Back in that day, they had no way to foresee the issues we would be facing from terrorism and crime in our day and time, but as I recall my childhood history lessons, I'm thankful that I was made to memorize those few words from one of our founding fathers. It seems to me that with each new law that is passed under the guise of "National Security," we lose another little snippet of our freedom, and one has to wonder, "Where is the stopping point?"  Now, don't get me wrong, I like having the assurance that our government is working to keep us safe, but I must also consider the cost of this security. Is our safety and security worth our rights and freedom? Let's take a look at that entire line from Patrick Henry's speech. The  first part says, "I know not what course others may take..." I've heard people talk who seem to have the opinion that whatever the cost, they want to be safe, but we should also ask if a life without freedom is worth living.  Now we'll go to the second part of the statement, and I have to say that I stand with Patrick Henry, "....but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."  I don't really fear death, but just like anyone else, neither am I in any kind of a hurry to die. I'd rather stick around a while longer, as long as I'm free. You see, there's one other consideration that some may not be taking into account, if I can use the words of Benjamin Franklin:  "Those who would trade in their freedom for their protection deserve neither." Preston Sent from my iPad=