The United States prides itself on being the “Land of the Free,” but how well-deserved is that title? As much as we like to point out that we have the right to speak openly and elect our representatives in government, how does this make us any different than most Western nations? We may be the birthplace of modern liberty, but our actions suggest that we are hardly the champions of such today.

We started out angry, demanding that the government keep out of our business. The entire American Revolution was centered around a tax that amounted to no more than 1 percent of a New Englander’s income. Now we pay nearly half of our income in local, state and federal taxes — more than we spend on food, shelter and clothing combined.

How free are we under a tax burden that would have caused our nation’s founders to revolt? Even medieval serfs did not have to contribute more than a few months worth of their produce to support the crown. Now we work until May just to pay off the government.

Many are surprised to learn that an income tax is the second plank of the Communist Manifesto. But the limits to our liberty do not end there.

Take streaking, for instance. Thirty years ago, if you wanted to blow off some steam, you could put on a Halloween mask, run naked through a classroom, and everyone got a good laugh out of it. Now, if you were to do the same thing, you would likely get arrested, have to register as a sex offender and attend court-ordered therapy as part of your probation.

With these things in mind, we need to ask ourselves, as Americans, how free are we?

Are we truly free when actions that do not affect anyone else make us a criminal? If we do not wear a seat belt or helmet (if we ride a motorcycle in most states), we are criminals. We cannot even be in possession of certain plants God put on this earth, like cannabis, without being subject to arrest.

Are we truly free when we have to register to engage in legal activities? If I purchase a gun (my Second Amendment right), some Sudafed or, potentially, a keg in this county, I am required to register with the authorities like some kind of child molester.

Are we truly free when we cannot access our own money at will? Withdrawing a given amount of cash forces banks to report us to the government for further investigation (as Rush Limbaugh found out). Now mail carriers are required to notify authorities if someone is receiving mail that the carrier considers suspicious. What kind of “free” society forces mail carriers and bank tellers to act as a de facto Gestapo?

We are not even allowed to travel where we wish. Bobby Fischer, chess champion, is a fugitive from this country, facing a 10-year prison term if he is convicted, for no worse crime than having played chess in a country — Yugoslavia — the government told him he could not visit and which does not even exist today.

Thomas Jefferson, the author of our Declaration of Independence, was prophetic when he said, “Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless. From the conclusion of this war [for Independence] we shall be going down hill. [The People] will be forgotten … and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights. The shackles … which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of this war, will remain on us long, will be made heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.”

I, for one, pray that Jefferson’s words were in error. Americans are still revolutionaries and leaders in my eyes. I see great hope for our future, but only when we stand united behind the ideals that made our nation great to begin with. By adhering to the libertarian principles of small government, individual rights and personal responsibility, we will continue our greatness well into the coming centuries and beyond.

There is certainly security in slavery. My question is whether we will continue to choose to be free.