I wake up in the morning and turn to my side to put my feet on the ground. Its hard having been packed my many feet over many decades. I take 6 steps to the front door and push it outwards into the still dark sky. The brightness of the sun won’t be felt for another couple of hours. 6 more steps to the side of the house and I pick up 2 large clay containers and start down the hill. My mind is thinking about the walk back up the hill with more than 70 pounds of water in the two clay jugs. But it must be done.
I return to my home and put the clay jugs in the normal place in the right corner closest to the door. My father, mother, 2 uncles, 1 aunt and her husband, 2 sisters and 2 brothers are now awake but not moving much as there isn’t much space in my home. I know all are waiting to take the morning walk behind the house to dispose of human waste out of our eye sight.
The older women heat some simple food. Not much to eat but it reduces the stomach’s desire to be filled. Most leave the house eating their breakfast on the way to the next part of the day. A couple have jobs with companies but most will be visiting the tourists to wash their rental cars or sell them trinkets. I will be going to my job in the farms.
Freedom has two states – mental and physical. The story above may be from someone who is mentally free with little to concern himself with except basic survival. A day by day experience doing what is necessary to feed himself and his family. He may have little to no interaction with the government. He has no health insurance. He has to defend himself and his family from criminal because the police do nothing for him or his family. There is no fire department. He has no car and learned long ago walking is faster than public transportation. He doesn’t have the funds to travel so he has no need for trains or airplanes. His country fights no wars with other counties because they have no assets someone else wants.
The physically free have health insurance, police and fire, public transportation and trips to visit family, friends or foreign lands are as close as the airport. But along the way, he must defend his rights from city, county, State and Federal governments. Multiple layers of elected and appointed officials have their hand out wanting more of his funds and at the same time telling him the path he is taking is getting narrower and narrower.
Who is freer! Living in a home made of mud with a dirty floor that never interacts with his government or the man living in the way of the government?