So Much for Freedom

by Ruth A. Sheets

The Republican Party likes to get the word out that it is the party of “freedom.”  They also claim that we should be “free” of big government and that government should be out of our lives. 

The party publicists know that the word “freedom” triggers a lot of feelings about America and how special the country is.  It makes their faithful feel patriotic and important.

When one examines their idea of freedom, however, it may cause one to pause a moment to ask for their definition.  No one seems to do that these days, especially the media.  Republicans are delighted because they don’t want people to know what is really going on.

They cry “freedom” when they take away a woman’s right to choose, related to her body and family planning.

They cry “freedom” when they propose laws to eliminate EPA and other forms of regulations that would protect citizens from environmental destruction, pollution, and hostile takeovers.

They cry “freedom” when they pass laws to require photo IDs for a type of voter fraud that doesn’t actually exist in numbers high enough to matter, yet which will disenfranchise the most vulnerable of our voters.

They cry “freedom” when they pass laws that encourage citizens to treat immigrants with disrespect, which can lead to violence, in order to drive the immigrants out – “voluntarily,” of course.

They cry “freedom” when they refuse to consider gun control legislation which could protect citizens as well as law enforcement from folks who have no business having any gun let alone an assault weapon.

They cry “freedom” when they cut funds for education, malign teachers, and take over school districts, claiming they are protecting people from waste or poor teachers.  

This last false cry of “freedom” hits me particularly hard because my district, Chester Upland in Southeastern Pennsylvania has been a target of these education cuts and government takeover.  Our district was handed to our governor’s campaign supporters with no accountability requirements for what happens in the schools which are paid for by taxes yet run by for profit companies, and they do make a lot of profit off the backs of our citizens.

For ten years, Pennsylvania government officials ran our district and left us about 40 million dollars in debt.  They made several charter schools, all but two of which failed badly.  The larger one that still operates skims off the money it wants before the rest of the district gets any funding.  The money goes to them straight from the state capital, and into the pockets of the governor’s Republican friends. 

Again we are living under a takeover.  To make sure that the district cannot be successful, the state legislature has passed a bill essentially turning our district over to Joe Watkins, a powerful Republican, who is a voucher freak and a charter school aficianado.  He has 30 days to make a plan for what will happen to our district – charters, vouchers, or something else.  He knows nothing of our community and the poverty here, yet he will decide our fate in just 30 days.  Our teachers will lose their jobs, our union will be broken, because of course, a charter school can’t have a union.  And with this new “freedom” contracts, dedication, professionalism, and service mean nothing.   .

The deck has been stacked against a whole community in the name of “freedom.”  This reminds me of Orwell’s “1984” when words like freedom meant exactly the opposite.  I am guessing that most Republicans have not read that book and those who have, actually like the premise.   

It feels weird to be fighting against “freedom,” but that’s what we need to do, the Republican brand of freedom.