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By Kenneth Prazak The latest would-be-farce-if-it-weren't-so-serious maneuver by the Chicago City Council is to impound the vehicle of a person "caught with a known prostitute." A person would have to pay a five-hundred dollar fine plus an impoundment fee to get the vehicle back. This enactment is on the heels of a similar one for "illegal guns" and of course, "illegal drugs." Of course the original precedent for these unconstitutional maneuvers is confiscation of property without due process of law for taxes. Innocent until proven guilty has been completely turned on its head in this country and most people are unaware. Confiscation of property without due process of law is increasing at an alarming rate, and people seem not to care. The conservatives are unaware as their myopic vision concentrates on the evils of drugs and prostitution, and the solving of those problems at any cost. The end justifies the means. The liberals are unaware as their tunnel vision focuses on the evils of guns and of those who don't "pay their fair share," and want to solve those ills at any cost. The end justifies the means. Both groups rail against the other for unconstitutional maneuvering. Both groups lament the loss of constitutional protections. Neither group gets it. There is only one way to ensure the revival and restoration of the Bill of Rights. Freedom is indivisible. As William Allen White said, "Freedom is the only thing you can not have unless you are willing to give it to others." Conservatives and liberals must learn to be tolerant of each other if they don't want their own ox being gored. Once the government is allowed to encroach on the freedom of one group or one individual, then other groups and other individuals will be subject to the same authoritarian treatment. Our founding fathers did get it. They knew that unless the government has to prove guilt, instead of the accused proving innocence, freedom and prosperity were impossible. Because they were rationalists, they knew that proving a negative was near-impossible. Since they studied history, they knew of the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition. They knew that the accused had to prove their innocence. The founders knew that the accused had to testify against themselves--confess--or face the rack and other tortures. They knew that informants were paid with the property of the accused. They recognized the inherent immorality of such a system. So the founders included the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution to protect Americans from such abuses. Our legacy in America is first a legacy of liberty. For this most esteemed value, our founding fathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. Yet now, liberty is dying on the vine. The drought of reason, objectivity, and tolerance has left America in a field of decaying values. Not coincidentally, along with decaying values we are experiencing a depressed economy. Here in Illinois we have an eight-and-a-half percent unemployment rate. Shortfalls and budget deficits continue to grow both nationally and locally. Most people are worse off than they were four years ago economically. Prosperity is a by-product of individual freedom. The respected "sages" of today are at a loss as to why the American economy is in such a state of shambles. But the reason for this should be no secret to them. It is no secret to those who understand what freedom is all about. People must be let free to their own devices to pursue their own goals in their own way as long as they don't encroach on the equal rights of others to do the same. Individuals must be allowed to keep more of their own property, away from the scourges of taxation. As taxes have increased over the past four years--supported by both conservatives and liberals--the economy has deteriorated. When individual rights and property are restored to Americans, the result will be a freer and happier America. Conservatives, and liberals, unite! Unite for the once cherished value of individual freedom. Unite for a renewed prosperity for America. Unite for yourselves. Unite so that your own values will be given the same fair treatment as the values of others. Unite.
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Kenneth Prazak is