As we look forward to this weekend’s Independence Day celebrations, I want to reflect on the dramatic changes to our country’s “health independence” since July 4, 1776.
On that date, almost 150 years ago, the Continental Congress endorsed the Declaration of Independence, which announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain.
And for many years after, most early Americans found health and happiness living off the land in an agrarian democracy, as extolled by founding father and third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.
But less than 100 years later, in early July of 1863, the United States found itself at the turning point in a bloody civil war…and this battle is still impacting your health and freedoms today.
Civil War starts fundamental shifts in size and reach of government
On July 3, 1863, General George G. Meade and the Union Army held back General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army following the bloody Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. Then, on July 4, in the western theatre of war, Union General Ulysses S. Grant took Vicksburg, a key Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, after a long siege.
Of course, we hear a lot about the rightness of the Union cause. But there’s more to the story.
The outcomes of the Civil War also impacted many of the health aspects of American life, including:
- More people leaving behind healthy agrarian democracy in favor of living in dense, urban environments.
- A victory of the New York Wall Street bankers, financiers, and industrialization over Main Street America—including the traditional, natural healthcare systems so many Americans relied upon.
- An increase in urban populations over small-town America, leaving rural populations vulnerable to inadequate healthcare and increased risks of certain diseases.
All the kinds of things that Thomas Jefferson and other politicians had warned would happen.
And other things started to change too…
Politicians start to buy votes with health handouts
As a result of the Civil War, 60,000 men went home from the battlefield missing one or more limbs. This contributed to many major advancements in the design and development of prosthetic limbs for the wounded veterans.
But they were very expensive.
So, in the 1870s, the City of Chicago’s political machine began providing subsidies to Union Army veterans to help them afford the costly prosthetics.
Realizing they could make promises about medical care as a way to buy votes, other savvy politicians around the country capitalized on the idea. Slowly, these dubious practices and “political handouts” expanded to other cities and other kinds of medical care services for private individuals…not just for deserving wounded veterans.
Of course, by 2010, 140 years later, another Chicago politician and his cronies forced through the disastrous Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a way to buy votes from the public. It was (and still is) the ultimate illusion of a medical handout, promising to provide “affordable” healthcare for all.
But the ACA really only improved conditions for people in urban areas (again, the kind of thing Jefferson had warned). And it resulted in insurance companies pulling out of many rural areas throughout America. In fact, today, many rural counties have only one operating health insurance company—or none at all—thanks to the ACA. But the administration was focused on “urban health” and couldn’t care less about rural areas. (Because people in those areas didn’t vote for them anyway, as I wrote about at the time.)
Likewise, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and numerous other state and local entities have all found ways to massively expand their power and reach in recent years.
They make promises…and give handouts. But they take away our most basic right: to CHOOSE. And the lamestream press blindly plays along.
So, day by day, month by month, year by year, your personal health freedom and other freedoms slip away.
It’s like someone deleted the 9th and 10th Amendments from the Bill of Rights. And considering the government’s latest, ceaseless handouts and bailouts (as part of its misguided response to the coronavirus panic), July 4, 2021 might as well be considered as a “government dependence” day instead of our traditional Independence Day.
Embrace your role in protecting American freedom
As President Lincoln said, the United States of America cannot be defeated by any foreign enemy, but only from the enemies within. And—as thoughtfully stated within the Declaration of Independence itself, July 4, 1776:
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security…
I first started writing about these serious threats to American freedom nine years ago—in the first month of publishing my Insider’s Cures monthly newsletter and my Daily Dispatch. But who knows—within another nine years, the government (or the thought police on social media) may block this kind of frank writing and reflection.
That’s why I invite you to protect your health freedom in many ways, including…
- Supporting independent farmers by shopping for your meat, produce, and dairy at your local farmer’s market or by purchasing a community-supported agriculture (CSA) “share.” You can even start growing your own food in the backyard! My family does, and you can learn more about it at www.CozziFamilyFarm.com.
- Avoiding ultra-processed foods (including “plant-based,” fake meat) manufactured by industrialized big food conglomerates.
- Opting for science-backed, natural solutions, instead of drug interventions or aggressive surgeries, whenever possible.
- Continuing to be your own advocate by always demanding complete information, answers, and options when meeting with any health professional.
If you’re concerned about your health freedoms, leave me a Facebook comment or email me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear what you’re passionate about!
Source:
“Insurer Participation on the ACA Marketplaces, 2014-2021.” KFF, 11/23/20. (kff.org/private-insurance/issue-brief/insurer-participation-on-the-aca-marketplaces-2014-2021/)Bottom of Form