On July 4th, we celebrate the freedom to vote foolish

On the 4th of July, we celebrate the freedom to vote foolishly
By Freedom Foundation,

Ever wonder why we continue to celebrate the 4th of July every year?

After all, one assumes the formal signing of the Declaration of Independence on that date in 1776 was marked by a suitably raucous blowout as millions of people were instantly (and more than a little presumptuously, given that the Revolutionary War would last another five years) transformed from colonists into Americans.

Wouldn’t one big party have been more practical than hundreds of succeeding smaller ones?

The obvious answer, of course, is that might be true if the occasion meant nothing more than a day off from work.

That isn’t an especially high bar to clear, however, if we’re already taking a day off at the end of August to honor the dubious contributions of organized labor to the nation’s general welfare.

Simply put, Americans will celebrate the 4th of July this year — and again even more noisily next year, on the nation’s 250th birthday — as a constant reminder to ourselves that freedom can never be owned outright. Rather, it’s bought on the installment plan with regular payments in blood whenever a foreign or domestic adversary stakes a claim on our liberties.

It’s a lesson an increasing number of our countrymen refuse to learn. One need look no further than recent poll and election results suggesting a shockingly large percentage of Americans would consider handing their precious votes to an avowed socialist — an ideology that promises to trade our God-given freedoms for some vague ideal of fairness while historically delivering neither.

We’re frequently assured the No. 1 issue on the minds of American voters right now is preserving democracy, and the fondness of far too many for authoritarian leaders in democratic clothing may well bear that out. But not in way misguided voters may believe.

If the political fortunes of this country are indeed threatened, it isn’t by the loss of democracy. It’s by the notion that the United States is a democracy in the first place.

It isn’t, and it never was.

The Founding Fathers, in fact, worked hard not to create a democracy because they wisely didn’t want individual rights subordinated to the tyranny of every ideologue capable of cobbling together a 51-49 majority. In the constitutional republic they fashioned instead, the rights with which we’ve been endowed by our creator are absolutely sacred even if they’re opposed 99 to 1.

Political leaders who selfishly exploit fear and envy in their quest for power are always exposed. Sometimes it just takes a little longer.

To paraphrase the late, great British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in a socialist government, there comes a point when you run out of someone else’s money — and that goes for their rights, too.

On this 4th of July, the Freedom Foundation celebrates not only liberty, but also the responsibility and accountability that come with it.

Here’s hoping we aren’t long in reclaiming the rights and freedom too many would so cavalierly cast aside.