The struggle for liberty has some unsung heroes. Henry Ford was one of the great pioneers of freedom. He was responsible for producing a car that the average man could afford to own. Another pioneer was Rockefeller. He reduced the price of the fuel that would run those cars so that common people could afford to drive them. Put the two together and you have a population that had the kind of mobility that previous generations could only dream of. Unfortunately, future generations may also only be able to dream about it.
Remember waiting to turn 16 so you could get your driver's license? It meant freedom. Your world now expanded beyond the range of your bicycle and sweat, limited only by your gas money and curfew. Many young people would get jobs just so they could afford a car.
As an adult you could work more than a few blocks away. To put it another way, you no longer had to live close to the place you worked. Your options were greatly increased.
Enjoy it while you can. The modern nobility is working to take that flexibility away from you by restricting your freedom of movement. Part of these elite masters are simply power hungry politicians who will have their own chauffeur driven, tax supported limousines. Their allies and supporters are the greens who want to take away your cars and force you onto mass transit. They want to put the fetters back on you. They can’t stand your freedom. Oh, and they want to save the planet.
If you go back to the middle ages you would find that one difference between a free peasant and a serf was freedom of movement. A serf was not allowed to go very far from home without permission from his lord. At school we practice the same control. Students are not allowed out of class without a pass. In many parts of the world you are not allowed to move around without your “papers.” We have seen it in the movies. The sinister Nazi says, “Let me see your papers.” Have you tried to fly lately? Every step of the way you are expected to produce ID. You are controlled and photographed. Last year when the TSA was doing their illegal search of my person their machine detected some stray chemical. As a result my ID was copied and put into the system. I am now flagged. Will that come back to bite me? Probably. The Lord of the Manor is closing in.
homo unius libri
Not the post that I expected, but you're correct. Incidentally, Ford was considered one of the robber barons by many in the working class, and to some degree, he was. most, though, don't see the side of the picture that you fill in.
ReplyDeleteThe book that opened my eyes a bit is called "The Myth of the Robber Barons" by Burt Folsom. My daughter gave it to me and then borrowed it to read so I don't have it to quote. He went through all the big names and showed how their actions benefited the little guy while it made them loads of money. No one questions that they made money but remember that most of the books about them are written by the same college professors that bring us modern education and praise the intelligence of our sitting president.
ReplyDeleteAnyway you look at it, life is complex.
Thanks for a thoughtful comment.
Grace and peace.