Slavery is wrong whether it is through government taxation, government permission to use one’s property as he wishes, or through government permission slips in order to work.  Slavery is not freedom; it is the ownership and/or control by a master.  A slave is the individual who is subject to that ownership or control. 

George Washington identified government as a dangerous servant and a fearful master.  As a result he and others created the Constitution to restrict that ownership and control by government officials.  According to the Declaration of Independence all individuals are endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The sole purpose of government is to make sure each individual gets to keep these rights and prevent individuals from taking away those rights from others. 

The whole idea of individual rights as explained in the Declaration of Independence supports one of the major tenets of libertarianism, the principle of self-ownership.  Every individual owns his own body and mind.  No external force, including government officials, has the right to dictate what an individual may do with his body as long as the individual does not use his mind or body to initiate force against another. 

Slavery was supposed to have been abolished a long time ago as noted in the Thirteenth Amendment.  Unfortunately, not enough individuals got the message.  Not only do government officials pass laws dictating what an individual can ingest into his system, but laws now dictate that the individual cannot sell his body parts, but rather is forced to donate them in order to help others. 

According to the U.S. Code it is unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce.  If an individual is caught selling or purchasing a body organ, the individual can be fined up to $50,000 or imprisoned for up to five years.  Since, practically everything is considered interstate commerce today, the individual has absolutely no control over his own body or mind.  In other words, the individual remains a slave to government.  The individual is prevented from utilizing free choice, the very definition of liberty.

The only difference between slavery prior to the 20^th century and today is that slavery is not limited to just African-American individuals and individuals of specific religious sects.  Slavery is now equally spread among everybody, no matter gender, ethnicity, national origin, or religious belief. 

For slavery to be thoroughly abolished, the ideas of freedom and the purpose of government as stated in the Declaration of Independence and that to be a free person, one must take responsibility for his own life, not force others, through government edict ( i.e. slavery) to take on that responsibility must truly be understood.  It makes one contemplate what the great German philosopher Johann von Goethe observed over 400 years ago, “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who think they are free.”

Tuesday, April 10 at 7 PM at the Booth Machinery conference hall located at Araby Road and 30^th Street, Mr. Michael Badnarik, 2004 Libertarian Party presidential candidate and author of the book, “Good to be King,” will speak on “The New Vanguard” at The Freedom Library annual awards ceremony where another three $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to local area participants in The Freedom Library Education and Scholarship Program.