Tim Thomas is a hockey goalie for the Boston Bruins.  Last year the Bruins won the Stanley Cup and Tim Thomas was an instrumental part of the Bruins’ success.  Now a modern-day custom, professional sports teams travel to the White House and visit the president after winning a championship.  Mr. Thomas decided not to accompany his fellow teammates this year to the White House.   Mr. Thomas released a statement describing why he did not take part in this years celebratory event.

I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People

This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.

Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.

I came across this statement a couple of weeks ago through Zero Hedge.  Mr. Thomas sir, I commend you for your courage to make a stand.  I have been inspired by Tim’s leadership and decided to write using his statement as a springboard for my thoughts.

There are a couple of keywords in this statement that I am going to expand on.  The first word is choice.  As humans we make choices everyday.  Those choices define who we are as individuals.  Having the ability to choose is the ultimate expression of freedom.  As our choices become limited, that freedom is restricted in turn.

Okay, the last paragraph seems like a commonsense statement.  Of course anytime an individual’s ability to choose is restricted, than that person’s freedom is diminished as well.  That leads me to ask a question.  Why have Americans chosen to relinquish our ability to make decisions for ourselves?

The answer is simple.  The citizens of this country have chosen to surrender our individuality for the comfort of complacency.  We have accepted societal norms as the definition of what our culture wants us to be.  Any deviation from normality is usually considered an abomination.

Stories of people wanting to drink unpasteurized milk are usually viewed with disdain.  The majority applaud  the decisions of bureaucrats who raid farms that offer such a product to the populace.  As long as we are allowed to make decisions that are accepted by society as normal, we do not care.  For instance, choosing what types of clothes we like to wear.

The walls of complacency that we build around ourselves seemingly protects us from the reality of truth.  The warm glow of our televisions comforts us and our favorite celebrities entertain us.  Our lives continue to be pleasant, even as our walls that we so ardently love slowly diminish.  Gradually, our choices as individuals are slowly taken away from us until the simplest of decisions are made for us.  Like what we can and cannot wear.  And at that point my friends, it is too late.

The second keyword from Tim’s statement is vision.  American society has decided to place mental blinders around ourselves and pretend that the reality of life does not affect us.  As a consequence, we have decided to allow a few to guide our lives instead of trusting ourselves to choice the correct path to take.  Since we abandoned our vision, the communities, families, and the individuality of our souls have been neglected.  Instead, our society has pursed a false vision constructed by our elected officials and implement by a legion of bureaucrats.

My friends, are we not capable of basic comprehension?  Unfortunately, the answer to that question is no.  Each year legislators pass new laws that inhibit an individual’s right to choose.  By allowing this travesty to continue the subjection of our society has been taking place in earnest as we have voluntary darken the vision of what this country could have been.  As usual, parts of our society complain.  At least those that actually pay attention.

All is not lost as we still have time to peacefully correct the errors of our ways.  Mr. Thomas has shown exemplary courage by making a stand against tyranny.  However, Tim Thomas is not the only leader amongst us.  We are all leaders and that is because we have not completely relinquished our ability to make a choice.

But, to be true leaders one must accept the concept of individuality.  That means coming to grips with the person that stares back at us in the mirror everyday.  We might not like the person that we see in the mirror, but that is who we are.  It is where our soul resides.  The consciousness of the individual.

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