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David Hegg | The Freedom of Self-Restraint

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14.03.2026

By David Hegg

Somewhere along the line, freedom went through a tragic redefinition. What once was understood and provided the basic foundation of our democracy has now become a primary cause of our societal demise. Why? Because, as our courageous forefathers understood, when they stood at Concord, facing the British soldiers who had come to seize their weapons, “freedom” was release from governmental tyranny, not permission for personal aggrandizement. They were seeking to throw off the chains of British tyranny, not looking for a reason to become unrestrained, self-enriching hooligans.

Freedom always comes at a price, and with great responsibilities. Freedom isn’t free, and true freedom has never been understood as the tearing down of all reasonable restraints.

Those who fought to end British domination understood their mission was two-fold. They first needed to extricate the nation from the monarchy of England. But that was only half of the battle. They also realized it was essential to replace the monarchy with a spectacularly American form of government.

Clearly, the Revolution was not about enacting anarchy. Rather, the goal was to establish a governing model grounded in humanity’s........

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