Security

Security is a blessing greatly to be desired, and few men there are who do not earnestly wish for it. Indeed, our search for economic security is the reason for which we do much that we do. It is this for which we work, for which we save and sacrifice, for which we insure ourselves, and for which we attempt to protect ourselves against many future eventualities. And the feeling of insecurity is a haunting spectre that often destroys the peace and the efficiency of men. But, desirable as it is, there are many false notions concerning security, and there are many varieties of false security offered at exorbitant prices; for example, in every generation there are those who would offer others the promise of economic security in exchange for one of the highest prices that any man ever paid for anything—in exchange for his freedom, his independence. The price is too high, even if they were able to deliver shat they offered. Suppose we were to go back now to the founding fathers of America and offer them economic concessions in exchange for their freedom—suppose we were to go back to the soldiers of 1776—they, with their battered muskets, their hungry stomachs; their bleeding feet, and with a price upon their heads. Fortunately for the generation which have followed, they did not accept any economic guarantees in exchange for freedom. Fortunately for us, they would rather work and worship as they chose, and shape their own way of life, and live as free men, because they knew, as all men must sometime know, that freedom is the way to security and that there is no security without freedom, no matter who guarantees it or how. To someone in want, any material offer is tempting, but free men are more to be envied then well-fed slaves, because free men can work out their own security, but slaves are dependant upon the whims and the fortunes of their masters. “Know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”6 And the truth is that men were made to be free, which is the truth on which this nation was founded and on which it will be perpetuated. Freedom from want is exceedingly important, but freedom itself is its only guarantee: freedom to work, to worship and to shape our own lives. He who trades his freedom for the promise of security has lost both.