Fuel for Thought

Land Of The Free?

The Star-Spangled Banner is our National Anthem. It was written by Francis Scott Key in September of 1814. He was inspired by the American flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, which was still flying above Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.

After several attempts to make The Star-Spangled Banner our National Anthem, it wasn’t until March 3, 1931 that the Senate passed the bill. The following day President Herbert Hoover signed the bill making it the official National Anthem of the United States of America.

One of the lines of the poem (yes, it started out as a poem), is “ O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave”

Land of the free, means we are free to choose. It does not mean everything is free. There seems to be a growing portion of our great nation who seem to believe that “the land of the free”, means they are entitled to get for free, well, just about anything. This could not be further from the meaning of “land of the free”.

You are free to work, not free from work. You are free to come and go as you please, as long as your freedom does not encroach on others freedoms. You are free to peaceful protests. You are not free to riot. You are free to vote. You are not guaranteed to pick the winner.

Far too many people want everything for free from those who work damn hard to earn a living. In these United States, if you work hard you can achieve your goals. You have the freedom to choose your goals and to pursue them. If you want what the hard working free people have, may I suggest you work just as hard to acquire it. They did not get it handed to them, and will not be handing it over to you lightly.

For those who wish to live “for free” on entitlements, what will you do when the well runs dry? Those “free” entitlements are not free, they are paid for by the hard working people of this country.The hard working, tax paying, business owning people can only give so much.

Because we are the Land of the Free, we are free to choose our own path in life. For all the entitled people out there, do something for you. Go out and earn your way. Until you do, you will never know the satisfaction of doing a job to the best of your abilities. There is a great feeling that comes with knowing you earned your way. Self reliance is a feeling like no other, and the harder you work, the greater the rewards can be. When you view another person’s success and want what they have given to you, try to keep in mind, they most likely did have it handed to them or even reach that level of success overnight. It takes years of hard work and a commitment to excellence.

Finding your path in life can be difficult. It may take several starts, but if you put your heart into it, you can achieve just about anything in “...the land of the free and the home of the brave”.

See you down the road,

Greg

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

- Pope John Paul II