Benjamin Franklin once wrote: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” That quotation comes from a letter that Franklin wrote on behalf of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
That quote often comes up in the context of new technology and concerns about government surveillance such as the 2015 terror attack in San Bernardino where the FBI wanted Apple Inc. to unlock the dead terrorist’s IPhone.
As you might recall, Apple declined due to its policy to never undermine the security features of its products and at the time Ben Franklyn’s quote was frequently noted by the media talking heads as justification for Apple’s position.
In actuality Franklyn was writing about a tax dispute between the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the Penn family, the proprietary family of the Pennsylvania colony who ruled it from far away.
The legislature was trying to tax the Penn family’s land to pay for frontier defense during the French and Indian War. And the Penn family kept asking the governor to veto the bill. Franklin felt that this was a great affront to the ability of the legislature to govern. And so he actually meant purchase a little temporary safety very literally. The Penn family was trying to give a lump sum of money in exchange for the General Assembly’s acknowledging that it did not have the authority to tax it.
Now, I don’t have a problem with people using the quotation to make a point other than Franklyn’s original intent; I just think it’s worth remembering what it was really all about.
Regardless of how his words were intended or the context they were used in, the quote can easily be applied to a variety of topics or issues of liberty verses safety. And today, I believe it is perfectly acceptable to use it in the context of Covid mandates.
Our once great nation of formally free men is rushing full throttle toward a dystopian state of iron fisted central control and forced compliance. And as always, we’re told it’s all being done for our own safety. But is it really? And even if it is, so what? Good intentions quickly become irrelevant when they violate our God given rights.
Folks, this isn’t a tin foil hat conspiracy being hatched by some tyrannical star chamber behind closed doors; instead it’s being done in the open, right before your very eyes. And it’s worth noting it’s not just being perpetrated just in blue states or municipalities, but everywhere, even in conservative Middle America.
For instance, a high school honor student in Laramie, Wyoming was recently arrested for choosing not to wear a mask at school. Grace Smith, a 16-year-old at Laramie High School, was handcuffed last week and given a suspension and trespassing arrest for “continued willful disobedience.”
“They gave me a second $500 citation for trespassing after my suspension, and then proceeded to arrest me after putting the school in lockdown for an hour and a half,” Grace told Fox News.
For the once lawful act of protesting, Grace was slapped with three separate two-day suspensions and received a total of $1,000 in trespassing fines for refusing to wear a mask.
Then consider this news item out of Colorado State University in Fort Collins. CSU is threatening unvaccinated students with arrest and jail time if they set one foot on campus for not receiving a Covid jab.
Turning Point USA first reported this week that Michael Katz, Director at CSU’s Student Resolution Center, wrote a letter to unvaccinated students telling them that because they have yet to provide proof of injection they are now prohibited from being anywhere on campus property.
Katz wrote in his threatening letter: “Since your non-compliance with this requirement poses a threat to the safety and well-being of the University community, the following interim measure applies to you.
“Effective immediately, you are trespassed from all University property until May 16, 2022. This means you are not permitted to be on any University property or in any University buildings; this includes but is not limited to, residence halls, university apartments, dining halls, in-person classes, the Morgan Library, the rec center, and the Lory student center.”
If unvaccinated students at CSU are caught anywhere on campus, either indoors or outdoors they “may be cited or arrested for trespassing and face further disciplinary action.”
At this point I think it’s worth pointing out that these students have already paid their tuition fees, meaning that the school took their money (which is all that really matters to the school) and is now informing them that if they even attempt to go to classes they will be arrested and imprisoned.
In the same letter, Katz revealed that faculty at CSU “are not required to make alternative arrangements for the students to complete their course work away from campus” while they are “trespassed from campus.”
What he’s saying is, every unvaccinated student who already paid full tuition will be denied the services they’ve already paid for because they refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
To put all this into proper context, you need to know that according to the university’s vaccine dashboard, 87.5 percent of its student body and 84.9 percent of faculty members are already “fully vaccinated”, so what exactly the school is afraid of is unclear, and if you sincerely follow the “science”, this means the university has already reached full “herd immunity” and does not need to worry about unvaccinated students in any way.
So, what’s up with that? Well, considering that CSU has adopted the policies of Nazi Germany undoubtedly these measures have nothing to do with health, it’s all about control and manipulation of we the sheeple. And if powerful elites can control your bodily autonomy what can’t they control in the future?
EDITORS NOTE: After this story made national news at Turning Point USA, Colorado State University responded saying it is not arresting students for not being vaccinated and refuted the claim, calling it a “misrepresentation of the university’s communication to students.” The fact is however the CSU’s Student Conduct Services did contact more than 1,300 students who had failed to submit an exemption request or proof of a COVID-19 vaccination with letters of noncompliance that barred them from returning to campus until their information was submitted. It is our deplorable opinion that there has been no misrepresentation what so ever. It’s simply CSU CYA. PERIOD.
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