Dan McLaughlin

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To Home Page Latest Newsletter Column Archives Click to get these columns for your local paper	© 2006 Daniel J. McLaughlin A Lot To Be Thankful For As fish swim, they don’t see the very water that supports them and preserves their life. They are unaware of it’s benefits, yet those fish keep on swimming and the water keeps giving them life. In the United States, we have a tradition and expectation of freedom. As we go about our daily business, we are typically unaware of what a vast positive effect it has on our lives. We are generally free and don’t give a thought about what it would be like if we were not free. We can’t see our freedom because we are immersed in it all of our lives. Many people come to America from other countries that are unfree or have significantly less freedom than we do. When they get here, they have a different perspective because they can see the water. They know what it is like to live without freedom and can appreciate it when they get here. My grandparents were immigrants from Ireland at the turn of the century. They came to this country with very little. They made a life for themselves and raised a family, in spite of discrimination against the Irish and hard times in general. Life was not easy, but they, like many others who came to this country, knew that freedom was not necessarily going to be easy. My father grew up during the depression years and had to quit school in tenth grade to help support the family. But the family survived and thrived, despite the hardships. Many very successful people in America came from other countries and started with nothing. They didn’t come here for welfare, free medical benefits, or anything but an opportunity. They worked very hard, made big sacrifices and reaped a life that the vast majority of the people of this world can’t even imagine. Because freedom is transparent to us, we tend to see through it, to the things we don’t like to see. There is hatred, there is murder, there is unfairness, there is envy, there is corruption. All of the evil things sometimes seem to jump to the foreground. If all of these things are the result of freedom, why should we be concerned about preserving it? That question is based on false assumptions about freedom. Freedom is not the cause of the hatred, greed, corruption or any other evil. These things have existed in every society from the beginning of civilization. They are only so evident in our free society because they are not hidden behind the veil of secrecy under which less free societies exist. We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. We can vote and alter the makeup of our government. We are generally free to choose where we reside, our homes, our spouses, our friends, our professions. We can shop in stores that boggle the mind of visitors from foreign countries. We choose from an incredible variety of products at low cost. Our standard of living is among the highest in the world. If you think about it, today’s poor people in the United States live better than the kings of the world of only a century or two ago. A high percentage of the poor have cars, washing machines and air conditioners. They sleep on mattresses in dry homes. They eat nourishing food at a relatively low cost. Poor people in many other parts of the world, even today, use a very large part of their income just for providing minimal food for their families. There is little left over for other things that most Americans take for granted. They cannot afford them, not because Americans are greedy or stingy or use too much, but rather, because those people are not free. They don’t have the basic rights necessary for accumulation of personal capital and property. They can never get out of the mire as long as their governments steal from them, oppress them and don’t protect their basic rights. The only antidote for those societies is a healthy dose of freedom and capitalism. Of all the things to be thankful for, there is none that comes close to the gift of individual liberty. Let us continue to fight the battle of ideas to prevent the continued erosion of our freedom. Hopefully, with enough people sending out the message, the bankruptcy of socialist ideals and overbearing government will become obvious. America can again bear the light of liberty as more countries get a taste of what freedom can bring..
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Daniel Mclaughlin Copyright © 2006 [Daniel McLaughlin]. All rights reserved. Revised: 03/18/08

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A Lot To Be Thankful For

As fish swim, they don’t see the very water that supports them and preserves their life. They are unaware of it’s benefits, yet those fish keep on swimming and the water keeps giving them life.

In the United States, we have a tradition and expectation of freedom. As we go about our daily business, we are typically unaware of what a vast positive effect it has on our lives. We are generally free and don’t give a thought about what it would be like if we were not free. We can’t see our freedom because we are immersed in it all of our lives.

Many people come to America from other countries that are unfree or have significantly less freedom than we do. When they get here, they have a different perspective because they can see the water. They know what it is like to live without freedom and can appreciate it when they get here.

My grandparents were immigrants from Ireland at the turn of the century. They came to this country with very little. They made a life for themselves and raised a family, in spite of discrimination against the Irish and hard times in general. Life was not easy, but they, like many others who came to this country, knew that freedom was not necessarily going to be easy. My father grew up during the depression years and had to quit school in tenth grade to help support the family. But the family survived and thrived, despite the hardships.

Many very successful people in America came from other countries and started with nothing. They didn’t come here for welfare, free medical benefits, or anything but an opportunity. They worked very hard, made big sacrifices and reaped a life that the vast majority of the people of this world can’t even imagine.

Because freedom is transparent to us, we tend to see through it, to the things we don’t like to see. There is hatred, there is murder, there is unfairness, there is envy, there is corruption. All of the evil things sometimes seem to jump to the foreground. If all of these things are the result of freedom, why should we be concerned about preserving it?

That question is based on false assumptions about freedom. Freedom is not the cause of the hatred, greed, corruption or any other evil. These things have existed in every society from the beginning of civilization. They are only so evident in our free society because they are not hidden behind the veil of secrecy under which less free societies exist.

We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. We can vote and alter the makeup of our government. We are generally free to choose where we reside, our homes, our spouses, our friends, our professions. We can shop in stores that boggle the mind of visitors from foreign countries. We choose from an incredible variety of products at low cost.

Our standard of living is among the highest in the world. If you think about it, today’s poor people in the United States live better than the kings of the world of only a century or two ago. A high percentage of the poor have cars, washing machines and air conditioners. They sleep on mattresses in dry homes. They eat nourishing food at a relatively low cost.

Poor people in many other parts of the world, even today, use a very large part of their income just for providing minimal food for their families. There is little left over for other things that most Americans take for granted. They cannot afford them, not because Americans are greedy or stingy or use too much, but rather, because those people are not free. They don’t have the basic rights necessary for accumulation of personal capital and property. They can never get out of the mire as long as their governments steal from them, oppress them and don’t protect their basic rights. The only antidote for those societies is a healthy dose of freedom and capitalism.

Of all the things to be thankful for, there is none that comes close to the gift of individual liberty. Let us continue to fight the battle of ideas to prevent the continued erosion of our freedom. Hopefully, with enough people sending out the message, the bankruptcy of socialist ideals and overbearing government will become obvious. America can again bear the light of liberty as more countries get a taste of what freedom can bring..

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