gonewacky
Veteran Member
Surely they wouldn’t take his home
The old man ran his fingers through his gray beard and thought; I should have seen it coming years ago. All the wackos have been preparing for it for years. First they said it was Y2K. Then when that didn’t happen they would say it was china, nuclear war, the economy, stock-market crash, and many other things. Most people would say, “Ya right.” So everything went on just the same, and all the wackos just kept preparing for something that would never happen.
Now looking back a little bit made him wonder who the wackos were. The stock-market is like a train heading for a tussle that isn’t there. The nuclear war threat was like it was during the cold war. With the threat of durty bombs, biological or chemical attacks right here in the US. But still everything went on just the same. With the new Home Land security we will be safe. The government won’t let this happen here.
Now he’s not so sure. We have been giving up rights to be safe, but we are not any safer. Now we have TIPS, the Homeland Spy Program. He remembered hearing about something like this when he was a little boy in school, but it was something they did in communist countries. He was told that it was wrong for kids to tell on their parents or turn in your neighbor. That is why we fight for freedom all over the world he was told. Now what can he do? Is it too late?
Taking a sip of his coffee he sat in his chair. Then he thought of how it all went wrong, but he knew the answer all to well. It had started with one law then another. What happened was that people did not understand that every law takes away a freedom. They thought they were making it better, but every law made it worse. Thinking hard he thought he knew the answer, and it was simple. It must have all started when they passed a law against spanking your children.
Then he thought about his car. It was a good car and gave him many years of pleasure. He had got it new twenty years ago. Surely they could not take it from him, it was all paid for, but they did. His eyesight had gone bad and he lost his license. With out a license he could not get insurance, and with out insurance he could not get tags. They had passed a law you had to have insurance to buy tags. Then the city passed a law you could not have a nonworking vehicle in the city, not even on your own property. Unless it was in a garage, and the old man didn’t have a garage. So there it set in his driveway until a neighbor turned him in for it. Then the city towed it away, because a car without tags was considered nonworking.
Now all he had left was his home, but that was soon to change. They were going to put a shopping mall on his property, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had tried to fight it, but the Supreme Court had already ruled that if it made jobs and improved the community they could take it.
He took another sip of his coffee, and heard a knock at the door. He knew it was time, and with out moving from his chair he said, “Come in.” The door slowly opened and in came a well dressed young man. Looking at the old man he informed, “Its time to go old man, there unloading the bulldozer, and your time is up.”
Taking a sip of his coffee he looked up and whispered, “This is all I have left, and I’m not giving it up.” Then with a wave of his arm, two Police Officers came in the door.
Now handcuffed and heading to jail he question. “Is this the land of the free?”
©By Joseph A. Hughes
_________________
Author of The Back Road
ISBN 0-9768447-3-7
Joseph A. Hughes
Author@thebackroad.net
The old man ran his fingers through his gray beard and thought; I should have seen it coming years ago. All the wackos have been preparing for it for years. First they said it was Y2K. Then when that didn’t happen they would say it was china, nuclear war, the economy, stock-market crash, and many other things. Most people would say, “Ya right.” So everything went on just the same, and all the wackos just kept preparing for something that would never happen.
Now looking back a little bit made him wonder who the wackos were. The stock-market is like a train heading for a tussle that isn’t there. The nuclear war threat was like it was during the cold war. With the threat of durty bombs, biological or chemical attacks right here in the US. But still everything went on just the same. With the new Home Land security we will be safe. The government won’t let this happen here.
Now he’s not so sure. We have been giving up rights to be safe, but we are not any safer. Now we have TIPS, the Homeland Spy Program. He remembered hearing about something like this when he was a little boy in school, but it was something they did in communist countries. He was told that it was wrong for kids to tell on their parents or turn in your neighbor. That is why we fight for freedom all over the world he was told. Now what can he do? Is it too late?
Taking a sip of his coffee he sat in his chair. Then he thought of how it all went wrong, but he knew the answer all to well. It had started with one law then another. What happened was that people did not understand that every law takes away a freedom. They thought they were making it better, but every law made it worse. Thinking hard he thought he knew the answer, and it was simple. It must have all started when they passed a law against spanking your children.
Then he thought about his car. It was a good car and gave him many years of pleasure. He had got it new twenty years ago. Surely they could not take it from him, it was all paid for, but they did. His eyesight had gone bad and he lost his license. With out a license he could not get insurance, and with out insurance he could not get tags. They had passed a law you had to have insurance to buy tags. Then the city passed a law you could not have a nonworking vehicle in the city, not even on your own property. Unless it was in a garage, and the old man didn’t have a garage. So there it set in his driveway until a neighbor turned him in for it. Then the city towed it away, because a car without tags was considered nonworking.
Now all he had left was his home, but that was soon to change. They were going to put a shopping mall on his property, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had tried to fight it, but the Supreme Court had already ruled that if it made jobs and improved the community they could take it.
He took another sip of his coffee, and heard a knock at the door. He knew it was time, and with out moving from his chair he said, “Come in.” The door slowly opened and in came a well dressed young man. Looking at the old man he informed, “Its time to go old man, there unloading the bulldozer, and your time is up.”
Taking a sip of his coffee he looked up and whispered, “This is all I have left, and I’m not giving it up.” Then with a wave of his arm, two Police Officers came in the door.
Now handcuffed and heading to jail he question. “Is this the land of the free?”
©By Joseph A. Hughes
_________________
Author of The Back Road
ISBN 0-9768447-3-7
Joseph A. Hughes
Author@thebackroad.net