Freedom, lets look at that definition a bit shall we...

With all the talk lately about Undocumented Aliens a number of people (from both the right and center) have espoused the belief that any path to citizenship should include "Learning English".

Now requiring someone to learn a language doesn't sound like freedom to me. Freedom to speak how and to whom you want sounds like a pretty easy to understand part of freedom. Why do some even fairly progressive people find this hard to see?

So many American's have been defining Freedom as "everyone else has the freedom to do things the way that is most convenient to me". This is not freedom, that is the exact opposite of freedom.

So many Americans only want to support the parts of Freedom that they like, that are what they grew up with or let them do what they want. I have always believed that all the parts of Freedom need to be protected with the same level of fervor. Because as soon as you start thinking that it is ok to start taking away any of its parts that puts all of of it in jeopardy.

That is why I am so against the AZ law that requires you to prove you are a citizen. I am surprised that it has been embraced so widely. The Right is in love with this law. This is a constituency that has fought rabidly against gun REGISTRY. But they are totally for PERSON registry? It really boggles my mind. I would like to think that it is for some other reason than that they don't think the law would ever be used against them since they don't "look like an immigrant" but I haven't got a better explanation.

Before you say "But Steve, aren't you a big supporter of the PPACA, isn't THAT a big imposition on Freedom to make people buy Health Insurance?"

Yes, it is a big imposition, but like our criminal laws, you have to measure what you are giving up against what you gain. I was against mandatory Car Insurance until I saw how much better it worked out. It is a matter of personal responsibility.

It is pretty much the same way with health care, our laws say that doctors and hospitals have to provide care regardless of a patient's ability to pay. And I like it that way because I don't want to be denied care for really any reason. So those that can afford to pay will, and those that can't will get it subsidized to a point that they can. That is really the way it was before anyway, just now we are putting the cart before the horse.

But I am straying from my original point. Our fore fathers never thought of making anyone learn any particular language. The whole idea of Freedom is the ability to live any damn way you please (within the Golden Rule). And if you want to abridge that in anyway, it better be a really good reason.