Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 8, 2011

Last December 17, a 26-year-old Tunisian produce stand owner named Mohammad Bouazizi committed suicide. Bouazizi, who lost his father at age three, managed to eke out a living as a street vendor. He was driven to fatal despair when a municipal police officer confiscated his merchandise.

The matter could have been cleared up if the officer had accepted the seven-dollar fine for operating an unlicensed merchant stand. But the sadist insisted on berating Bouazizi, slapping him, spitting in his face, and insulting his dead father. Heartsick with inconsolable despair, the young man set himself on fire. Public outrage over this incident grew into a revolt that eventually unseated the incumbent dictator.

Fortunately, Americans don?t face that kind of petty tyranny. If only that were the case. The government ruling us licenses, regulates, taxes, and harasses us in myriad ways. Someday, as our economic misery deepens, an official regulator or sadistic cop will push a helpless, honest man too far. That?s when things will get really interesting.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.