The worst domestic political idea since socialism has appeared today, direct from the desk of President Bush. It is called "The New Freedom Initiative". And just what is "the New Freedom"?
President Bush plans to unveil next month a sweeping mental health initiative that recommends screening for every citizen and promotes the use of expensive antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs favored by supporters of the administration.The New Freedom, then, is the freedom to submit yourself for regular evaluations from pseudoscientists who have a vested interest in proving that you are sick. The New Freedom is the freedom to accept that it is normal to be on mind-altering drugs. The New Freedom includes, doubtless, increased state freedom to drug persons it finds unpleasant or difficult--little boys in school, for example. Or "conservatives," perhaps. Or liberals.
The New Freedom probably also includes less individual freedom to refuse such treatments. We have seen that the state has already begun to force us to drug our children, under threat of jail or having our kids stolen.
Chad Taylor of Rio Rancho, N.M., suspected that his son Daniel was suffering side effects from Ritalin, a drug he was taking for attention deficit disorder:"He was losing weight, wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating," Taylor told ABC News affiliate KOAT-TV in New Mexico. "[He] just wasn't Daniel."
"So Taylor took Daniel off Ritalin, against his doctor's wishes. And though Taylor noticed Daniel was sleeping better and his appetite had returned, his teachers complained about the return of his disruptive behavior. Daniel seemed unable to sit still and was inattentive. His teachers ultimately learned that he was no longer taking Ritalin. School officials reported Daniel's parents to New Mexico's Department of Children, Youth and Families.Then a detective and social worker made a home visit. 'The detective told me if I did not medicate my son, I would be arrested for child abuse and neglect,' Taylor said. A spokesman for New Mexico's Department of Children, Youth and Families told KOAT-TV that they could not comment on the case because of state confidentiality laws. John Francis, a detective for the Rio Rancho Department of Public Safety, said that Taylor was not threatened but told KOAT-TV that parents could be charged in situations like his."
The Rio Rancho schools have frequently appeared in our "Zero-Tolerance Watch" series. Threatening to jail a father for refusing to give his child behavior-modification drugs, though, seems particularly outrageous--a far bigger threat to the average American's liberty than anything in the Patriot Act.
I don't like the New Freedom. I prefer the Old Freedom. The freedom where we are free men gifted with the minds our Creator made for us, rather than the ones "psychologists" would prefer we have.
Free minds, which we may hone, like swords, in the way we desire.
Free minds, which may choose to love our children as they are, and refuse to let the state drug them.
Free minds, who can decide when the government has finally betrayed us, our liberty, and the Republic.
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