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Now that we’ve celebrated Independence Day And while the fireworks, barbecues and other festivities are over, I’ve been thinking about what freedom really is. While this holiday commemorates the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, as an immigrant, the word freedom has a special meaning to me. It encompasses a much broader concept than the separation of the United States from the kings and queens of the Old World.
I was born and raised in Soviet Russia. My parents disagreed with the communist system, but they didn’t actively rebel against it – it made no sense. The state apparatus that controlled people was so strong that it was impossible to shake it. Instead, my mother instilled in me the idea that one day, I would be free and independent because I would go to America. As a child, I had no idea what America was and why I had to leave my family and friends in Russia and flee to this unknown land. But I didn’t question my mother. I knew she wanted the best for me.
In preparation for my new life, which lasted for several years, I started learning English in third grade, worked hard to get “A” grades throughout high school, didn’t miss a single class with the English language tutor my mother hired for me, and eventually earned a master’s degree in English and French from a top university in Moscow.
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Old Soviet Union and United States flags (iStock)
in life Soviet Russia It was very disciplined as if it followed a carefully prepared script. The author of the script was the CPSU – the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. You always knew what to do and what not to do. The government told you so.
The state had complete control over the individual because it owned everything – there was no private property. The government told you where to live because it owned all the apartments, and you had to wait for years to get an apartment. So, people lived in communal flats. It told you where to work after you graduated from college. It told you what to think, because all media was controlled by the state. And you instinctively knew what you could and could not say in public, because if you spoke out or criticized the government you would be punished.
Rebecca Kofler grew up in the Soviet Union. (Rebecca Koffler)
How was the state able to do that in the USSR? Everything or almost everything was free or almost free, but you had to pay for food and clothing, neither of which were in abundance. The state took care of you. All you had to do was follow all the rules. There were a lot of rules – you couldn’t even get out of bed in the morning without breaking a law. All in all, the state wanted you to be dependent, not independent.
I came to the US after graduating from college, as my mother wanted. I became a US citizen in 1995. What impressed me most here was how free and independent Americans were at that time. No one told them what to do, what to think, what to say and where to work.
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Statue of Liberty, New York City (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)
If you are American, you choose your own path. I quickly learned to embrace this independence and freedom of action. It was this feeling of freedom that inspired me to join US intelligence after the terrorist attacks. 11 SeptemberI wanted to serve my motherland and protect it from foreign threats.
In recent years, I have watched with alarm as freedom – something so ingrained in the American psyche and culture – is being eroded. Big government, big tech, and big media are eating away at our freedoms.
As in Soviet Russia, the ruling elite now tells us what car to drive – electric, even if you can’t afford it; what size soda drink to drink, what type of meat to eat – preferring lab-grown meat.
Meanwhile, big tech and big media — often in collusion with big government — are shaping the thinking of Americans by censoring free speech. Conservative and especially religious voices are silenced, while left-wing voices that agree with the party line are promoted.
America needs to take a deep breath or it will soon be on the verge of becoming a Soviet-style totalitarian state. (Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images)
Even some privileged “journalists” want to take away our freedoms when it comes to presidential elections. Many were “shocked” when President Biden’s severe physical and cognitive impairment was on full display during the CNN Presidential Debate and could no longer be hidden. Some in the left-wing media are now demanding a replacement candidate, while for many years they have been claiming he is not ill and is perfectly healthy.
America needs to take a deep breath, or it will soon be on the verge of becoming a Soviet-style totalitarian state. Biden and former President Obama — who declared their desire to “fundamentally transform” our country — are hellbent on stripping away many of our freedoms.
A supporter of the Russian Communist Party attends a ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in Red Square in Moscow on March 5, 2021. (Reuters/Evgeniya Novozhenina)
As Americans watch helplessly as their government allows murderers, rapists, terrorists, and foreign operatives to enter our beautiful country under the guise of human rights, we must now decide if our rights as Americans are at risk.
With the presidential election just months away, the big question is: Will Americans defend their freedoms or are we content with the slow collapse of our nation as it begins to resemble parts of Russia and China, where the state controls every aspect of our lives? The time to decide is now.
