Like I said above, people need something more inspiring than eradicating cockroaches (impeaching Obama).

I predict you'll be disappointed in the former, but not the latter.

yes

Your question about the Pilgrims, depends on your perspective. The people that this country already belonged to would not think the Pilgrims coming here was good thing. Attempted genocide, introduction of diseases, etc… My Great Grandfather talked about how his grandfather used to do whatever they wanted, went where ever they wanted, when they wanted, lived how they wanted and did not have to tell anyone or get anyone’s permission. Now that was freedom. The government hated Native Americans for many reasons, one of those reason; they knew the difference between the illusion of freedom and true freedom. That’s the philosophy I live by to this day. Governments seek to control, otherwise where is their power?

Yes, if you're an Existentialist.
Do you mean freedom in the sense of no obligations, no need to labor and to do whatever you wish whenever you wish it? If you are a human, there is no way to be totally free in that sense. Besides, you'd probably have the same problem as Adam. You'd be bored and curiosity would get the better of you. However, this does not preclude you from striving to be as free as it is possible. Always there will be obligations keeping you from total freedom; to your loved ones, your job, to yourself, etc. The greatest barrier to human freedom is others telling you what you can and cannot do and forcing you to obey. In an evil society, the use of the law, which should be beneficial is often used to cut away your freedom so that others can have power over you. To answer the question more fully, you are totally free in death, but since you no longer exist, it is a moot point.

One realization that has come to me, far slower than it should have, is that it is not enough to be against statism and government, one has to be for something, to have a vision of where one wants to go. The Fountainhead sounds the tocsin against the encroaching state, and Atlas Shrugged painted the dystopian future after that encroaching state has smothered everything in its path. However, Rand never presented a vision of a world in which the things she was fighting for—liberty, limited government, rational self-interest, and capitalism—had triumphed. One of the reasons I wrote The Golden Pinnacle, which you read, Ed, is to, if not show a world where those ideals had triumphed, to at least show what America was like when we approached the pinnacle of freedom during the Industrial Revolution. It is the first of a trilogy, and the third novel will offer the ultimate utopian vision.

You can look at the current nightmare and despair. You ask: “how do ever get the government out of our lives?” Reformulate your question: “how do we restore freedom in America?” It may seem a trivial point, but the first question is akin to: “how do we get the cockroaches out of our kitchen?” It’s a valid question, and the cockroaches have to be eradicated, but it’s mundane and uninspiring. Restoring freedom, on the other hand, inspires, and freedom’s proponents aren’t left just pointing out the deleterious consequences of statism and coercion (even, or especially, for the so-called beneficiaries), but can instead frame the issues in terms of people building better lives for themselves and their families, unobstructed by the state, reaping their just rewards, and rediscovering respect for themselves and their fellow citizens. People need to strive for higher goals than cockroach eradication. (Even that task sounds more palatable if you reformulate it is a part of the job of making your kitchen sparkling clean.)

If we Gulchers frame our goal as restoring freedom, then that can be done in ways large and small. Realize that like all corrupt, overreaching, overextended, overly indebted governments, ours will fail. A big part of our job will be done, but if all we can offer is: “told you so, told you so,” it will not matter. Winston Churchill said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they’ve tried everything else.” After the collapse, many Americans will be ready to try the right thing: restoring freedom. The government will be bankrupt and continuation of the welfare state and foreign adventurism will be fiscally impossible. But intellectual revolutions always precede actual revolutions, so it is now that we must make the case not just against current arrangements, but the positive case for restoring freedom, in every way that we can. That’s what leaders do.

Death is not freedom. There is no consciousness without the working brain. Death is oblivion. So consider well whether to wipe yourself out permanently. Small consolation to know your remaining molecules get mixed in with earth or fire or water or air. Small consolation also to think that memories of you endure temporarily in other brains.

Only while there is life can you still make your mark in the world, add a stepping stone to humanity's future. Never give up of your own free will. Live for your own life. Give no one control of your mind. The mind IS free.

I think that being completely free and dependant only on your own intellegance and skills is exciting for some, challenging for others and terrifying for most. Many sheeple need to be governed.

Work toward the future.

We live in the days we live in. Little to be done about that.

But the future is ours. Manifest Destiny all over again.

Work toward new, independent, city-states at sea or in space.

Freedom from the restrictions of society is anarchy. Even in death you are not free, you are bound by the rules of science that control your earthly remains.
Both Aristotle and Socrates wrote and spoke of death and spiritual freedom, but one must remember the were both soldiers, and a certain expectation of death is common enough.
Friedrich Nietzsche " theorized that in order to truly "live" a realistic confrontation with death was required."
But is death truly death, no one really knows . . .

I killed autocorrect about 10 minutes after getting my new phone... when it was giving me politically correct garbage instead of what I was typing. What's worse is you correct the auto-correct and it changes it right back - or tries to correct it into something even worse. (typical example - "Who is join guilt?")

Of course, I am guilty of fat-thumbing like crazy, but at least it's not like my old one where I had to type with my pinkies... You can also adjust the font and color scheme - makes it easier to read what you wrote...

Also at one time one could start a business - I think of the forge I own, started in the 1870's when someone saw a need and just did it - and there was no regulation or big brother saying "thou shalt not..." and demanding their bribes in the form of permits, fees, and for the most part, taxes... and that was a good thing. It allowed trade, productivity, and commerce to happen. It allowed people to be employed, and to succeed - or fail - on their own. Truly rewarded for their labors.

Now, we have big government. And it seems the more government, the more oppressive anti-business said government becomes... and the more power it grabs, the larger the dragon becomes.

No, big government is there for one purpose - to make itself bigger, and to skim the hard work of the producers off into the pockets of the moochers participating in said government.

I'd like to hear more.

ed; I don't think it's so much getting government out of our lives as it is doing the work to get yourself out of government's clutches. It is hard, and getting harder everyday, but it is doable and most of it has to do with attitude.

Or I can wear my glasses and proof read. LOL. But that is a good suggestion that I will look at.

You can go into your utilities and turn off the auto-correct.

I hate typing on my phone and it auto corrects a word that it shouldn't. Dealer should be deeper. Of course that may mean I should be wearing my glasses.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing? My answer would be it is a good thing for freedom. May not have been a good thing for a persons life. What was on the other side. Then again had the Pilgrims not set sail for a new beginning where would we be today? Why is it when population grows, society becomes more restrictive? Many more questions than answers.

100 years ago you could cross borders without a passport

I get this part. I understand the need of some government. What I am trying to get at is much dealer. What was it like to live in a time when government didn't even know you existed? You got to make your own choices and live with the result, or die from it. But it was your choice not one that someone else made. Yes we still get to do that to some degree but that is fading. Maybe this is just a fallacy but that is where my mind is going.

some government can be good. can you define which parts you want to slough off? there are definitely other places to live which offer some beter de facto freedoms. But uniquely, US citizens are US citizens anywhere in the world. They take all of the risks and get none of the rewards of their citizenship when they live outside the country. That is why people are renouncing their citizenship in record numbers