Light requires positive energy, just as Liberty.

Light requires positive energy, just as Liberty. ( Photo Taken by: Paul G. Markel)

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Basic Science

Even those who went to public school during the last twenty years should understand that light, both visible and invisible, is a product of positive energy. Human beings learned how to make light when they unlocked the mystery of fire. Fire is a positive energy.

No, we are not going to rehash “Natural Science 101”, but we do all need to be on the same page and understand that light is energy. Darkness on the other hand, is the absence of light. I recall learning that definition in elementary school or perhaps Junior High.

Simply put, darkness is the natural default of the universe. If you recall your Sunday School lessons, “God said, Let there be light: and there was light. God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”  (Genesis 1:3-4)


“God said, Let there be light: and there was light. God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”  (Genesis 1:3-4)

Darkness is a default state. We do not have handheld devices that produce darkness. Conversely, we do indeed have innumerable devices that produce light.

Think about it…

A great deal of time, effort, and energy has gone into building better light generating devices.

If men were to put forth no positive effort to create and maintain light, the moment the sun went down they would be living in darkness. Darkness happens on its own without the efforts of man. A severe thunderstorm comes along and “boom” the lights go out. What do we hear on the news? The power company is working diligently to “get the lights back on.”

Liberty and Light

Just as light is a result of the positive application of energy, liberty also requires effort and energy. If a people desire to have individual liberty, not just freedom, they must work for it. Liberty does not happen on its own.

Darkness is the absence of light and the default of the universe. Slavery or servitude is like darkness, it is the default setting for man and society.

For the entire history of the human race, the people; slaves, peasants, serfs, common folk, have been at the mercy of whichever authority figure fought hard enough to assume the seat of power. Consider the Greeks, the Romans, the Mongols, the Spanish, French, English, and various other empires.

The common man has had no other choice than to embrace, endure, or suffer under the ruler of the day.

 

Individual liberty and self-determination were concepts far from the realm of possibility and reality before the 18th Century. Prior to the United States coming into being, history held only a few examples of societies where the individual citizen, not a member of the ruling class, could truly exercise any form of self-determination.

The Magna Carte officially put forth the idea that individual citizens could possess rights, rights that even a king could not arbitrarily take away. The 95 Theses attacked the idea that the power structure of the Catholic Church had absolute authority to dictate to the people and interpret the Bible as only they saw fit.

Despite some advances over the centuries, it was not until the United States of America was established that such a wide spread and nationally recognized experiment in self-government was undertaken. Understanding that pure democracy, where the people all vote for every issue, was impossible beyond a town or village, the Representative Republic format was applied.

The Torch was Lit

It is no coincidence that the Statue of Liberty is holding a torch. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

It is no coincidence that the Statue of Liberty is holding a torch. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

On April 19th, 1775 on Lexington Green and on the Concord bridge and the long road back to Boston, the torch of liberty was lit for citizens of what would become the United States of America.

There had been sparks of independence and liberty up to that point, but the fire did not truly begin to burn and the light of liberty shown across the land until positive energy became applied that fateful day.

It is no accident that the Statue of Liberty holds a torch to the sky, not a musket or a sword, but a torch. That torch represents the light and liberty.

Often we have heard that the giant green lady on the island is shining her torch to light the way toward freedom and liberty. However, has anyone ever said to you that liberty, like light, is a result of positive energy and that energy must be kept in constant supply?

Liberty does not just happen as a default. Remember, darkness and servitude are the defaults or natural states of the world.

Liberty is not the same as freedom. Because Liberty is the freedom to make a choice. Freedom is the result of making the correct choices. Although it has become more difficult to exercise liberty in the making of the right choices, as you read these words, you still indeed have that choice.

You can choose to accept the fact that liberty, like light, does not happen all by itself. You inherited access to liberty: to make the right choices and to exercise the duties that liberty requires. That inheritance did not include a never-ending guarantee of liberty and freedom, only the opportunity to make the choice.

Love of Nation

A man who loved this nation more than most who have come after him once said;


“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

That man was President Ronald Reagan, my first Commander in Chief under whom I had the honor to serve.

My prayer for you and for the United States of America, founded as a Representative Republic and the greatest experiment is self-government the world has ever known, is that enough patriots will recognize the need for positive energy. Forces are hard at work within the USA to steal the energy of liberty and extinguish the light of freedom.

Will you sit back and allow it?

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Paul G. Markel has worn many hats during his lifetime. He has been a U.S. Marine, Police Officer, Professional Bodyguard, and Small Arms and Tactics Instructor. Mr. Markel has been writing professionally for law enforcement and firearms periodicals for nearly twenty years with hundreds and hundreds of articles in print. Paul is a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio talk shows and subject matter expert in firearms training and use of force. Mr. Markel has been teaching safe and effective firearms handling to students young and old for decades and has worked actively with the 4-H Shooting Sports program. Paul holds numerous instructor certifications in multiple disciplines and a Bachelor’s degree in conflict resolution; nonetheless, he is and will remain a dedicated Student of the Gun.

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