Let's talk politics: Freedom and our inalienable rights

It's been a while since I wrote a politically driven article, it sure beats the monotony of the Pokémon articles I write. Anyhow, this article is going to be a discussion on freedom and our inalienable rights, with a contrast and comparison between two major countries of the western world, the U.S. and Australia.

So what is freedom, you may ask. Well, there are actually many different definitions; such as "exemption from external control, power to determine action without restraint, political or national independence, or personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery."¹ So what does this mean in a political sense? This means that the government has no right to dictate our lives or infringe upon the rights of the people; such as the right to self-defense, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and so on.

So what does this have to do with America? Well, in all actually this has everything to do with America. For those of you that know me, I may seem a bit distasteful of Americans, but in reality I look up to them. They stand up for their freedoms and rights, and they're supposed to be protected by the best constitution in the world. The U.S. constitution defends the inalienable rights of the people, protecting their right to free speech and self-defense in particular. The second amendment of the U.S. constitution states that "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." This was set up by the founding fathers of America so that the people could effectively counter a tyrannical and all-powerful government. Such a government would be one where liberty is sacrificed for safety, and in the words of Benjamin Franklin;

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty

to purchase a little Temporary Safety,

deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

There cannot be a graver truth, and the most recent example in history is Barrack Obama's government. It's no secret that I'm not Obama's biggest fan, in fact I detest almost everything he stands for. He willfully ignores the constitution, and would rather rule through intimidation and restraint in attempts to restrict the freedoms of the people. He has, many times, advocated the need of copyright laws on the internet through lazily and vaguely written bills such as SOPA and PIPA. These bills are designed to ignore the fair use laws in America, which state that if used for critique or educational purposes, and all credit is given to the content creators, such content can be used. The bills are incredibly vague in their approach, but pretty much any content made by a party that goes online without their permission can arrest the person/s who put up the content in the first place, with prison sentences being up to a maximum of 15 years, depending upon how many charges are pressed. This means that, if the content is for a review, the critic can spend as much time as a murderer or rapist in jail. This makes no sense, but thankfully the bill has been shot down several times and is unconstitutional, which means it probably never would have gotten past the senate anyways. This is why I'm such a big fan of America, they have a constitution that protects and empowers the people, unlike Australia.

When I first heard that Australia had a constitution, I thought it was utter bullocks because I had always been told we don't have one. However, after doing some digging, I ended up finding a copy of it, and oh boy, no wonder nobody talks about it. The Australian constitution is one of the most disgusting political documents I have ever seen. It freely empowers the government and the Queen, allowing them to make whatever changes they want to law. This is extremely discerning news, as this allows the Government to freely discriminate against the people, oppressing the people and ruling as a dictatorship. This is most apparent in Queensland, which has been the topic of controversy lately.

In Queensland, the Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment (VLAD for short) laws were passed some time in 2013, and boy have they been under fire since their incarnation. The VLAD laws were initiated by Queensland Premier Campbell Newman in 2013 as a bill that targets motorcycle gangs that commit illegal acts, such as drug trafficking, homicide and disrupting the peace. Nevermind the fact that bikies make up only 1-2% of overall criminal offenders in Queensland, the VLAD bill gives the police near-unlimited power, and are rather vague in the bills "anti-association" attempt. The bill states that if people in a group of three or more are wearing the same insignia, whatever that insignia may be, those people can be arrested by the police, no matter the scenario. This has effectively not only turned Queensland into a more police state than it already was, but renders the phrase "Innocent until proven guilty" useless. This is a perfect example of a tyrannical government that we cannot effectively stand against thanks to the numerous restrictions of the people.

Recently in Melbourne a bill was passed named the "Move On Act" which made protesting illegal. This was brought about because of anti-abortionists protesting outside an abortion clinic. Now, I detest anti-abortionists who would restrict the freedom of a woman's choice between having a baby or not, but I will vehemently protect their freedom of speech, regardless of their stupid opinions or not. This is yet another infringement of inalienable rights in Australia, yet people STILL remain apathetic in regards to the atrocities of the government. What it take to get through to them, being spied up- yeah that's already being done. Australia has been spying on its people since 1994, and just like the NSA, has been keeping it a secret from the people.

So, where do I stand on the issue? I stand on the side of freedom. This means that I stand behind the American constitution, and whilst it might not be my own, it may be in the future. The acts being committed by the government are atrocious, and I will never support such anti-people actions. The reason the U.S. constitution and Bill of Rights exist is because the forefathers knew that someday the government may get too big for its britches, that someday a militia may have to stand up for what is right and to protect the people that they care for and the values they hold. That and these documents protect the peoples inalienable rights.

What do you all think? Are you for giving up your freedoms for the security that the government promises, or are you like me and are against the government attempting to restrict your freedoms for security? Leave your comments and opinions below.

References:

¹. Dictionary.com, definition of "freedom:" http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/freedom?s=t