"What has happened to a free America?"

That is the question that was part of a comment posted on a quote by President Obama that I'd posted on Facebook about the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare).  President Obama said that people's "lives are better.  This is now part of the fabric of  how we care for one another."  The person who posted the comment posed the question "What has happened to a free America?" Then stated that "Now we are being forced" to get insurance.  That kind of thinking and those questions are not new.  Quite the contrary, they have been repeated many times when citizens do not like a particular law passed by the Local, State or Federal government.

I remember when Massachusetts passed the seat belt law. Signs were placed on the side of all the interstate roads alerting motorists that they must wear seat belts in Massachusetts.  Oh how the conservative Republicans rose up in anger at being forced to wear a seat belt.  How dare the Government of Massachusetts tell anyone that they must wear a seat belt?  Apparently the right to impale one's self on a steering wheel or smash one's head into the windshield are rights that must never be taken away and always defended.  The conservatives did win that early battle and all the signs were changed from Massachusetts requires seat belts to Massachusetts strongly encourages the use of seat belts.

The same argument has also been used regarding wearing motorcycle helmets.  How dare any Government require motorcycle riders to wear helmets?  How dare any Government take away the right to crack one's head open on the pavement?

Regarding healthcare, how dare the Government take away one's right to be sick and not be able to afford to go to the doctor?  How dare any Government take away one's right to not be able to afford prescriptions?  How dare any Government take away one's right to wait until an illness becomes life-threatening and a trip to the Emergency Room becomes a necessity because there is no alternative?  No health insurance to provide a way to afford a doctor visit?

Lastly, there is the question: "What has happened to a free America?"  Absolutely nothing has happened to free America!  Nothing at all!  We still have a free America! If anyone doubts our freedom, think about the fact that we can speak out against the policies of our Local, State and National Governments without fear of reprisal.  We can speak out against our elected officials, including our President, without fear of reprisal. Not all people in all countries have that freedom.  In Cuba, China and North Korea, speaking out against the government and the countries' leaders will get one arrested and often killed.

 Go look up images of the protests that took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.  Chinese students were killed for speaking out!  That is loss of freedom!  That is loss of life!  To suggest that Americans are not free because they have to have life-saving healthcare insurance is an insult to those who truly are not free and whose blood has been spilled in an effort to become free!