What does “freedom” mean to you? Is it really just another word that we throw around in songs and that politicians use to get us on their side? Or does it have real meaning? And if it means something, shouldn’t we be talking about that and making sure our society is more free?

For me, freedom is the ability to do anything that YOU want to do - economically, socially, culturally, physically or any other way, so long as you don’t hurt anyone else or get in the way of THEIR freedom.

Critically, I also think that freedom doesn’t exist without community, and in our case our community is the United States. Without community, we live in a state of anarchy. For freedom to work, we need an organized community - a government - that enforces our right to freedom, as well as our responsibility to not take away anyone else’s freedom, and makes it possible for all of us to be as free as possible.

If an organized community through government is required to defend and confirm our rights, then we NEED to focus on how to get the best possible government that works for all of us. We may get equal rights for all if we have a great government, or we may get a very unequal system where a small group of elites gets more “rights,” and more benefits. Do we want a government that works for all of its citizens, maximizing its benefit to ensure everyone has access to freedom? Or do we want a government that maximizes the freedom of the extremely rich and powerful at the expense of everyone else?

Our economy is simply not working for the VAST majority of us. Too many of us can’t count on having the basic necessities of life from month to month. And that is the heart of what freedom truly is: alongside the right to free speech and the freedom of religion are the rights of putting in an honest day’s work and being able to support your family, of being able to seek medical treatment without worrying about if the cost will bankrupt you, of having clean air and water.

The rich elites who run our society have all they need. They don’t need the government to provide more “rights,” because they already write all of the laws to benefit themselves. Their main focus is on keeping their wealth and power. They understand the score VERY clearly: if the government provides more rights to everyone else, they know exactly who would pay for it - the rich would. They would.

It’s time to change the way we think about our freedom and our rights. It’s time to come together around the things that we share and start fighting for things that matter, instead of fighting with each other.