We wonder where our freedoms went. We sure do. We senior citizens, who look back to the freedoms we had prior to government seizure of people’s rights.

When people were responsible and ran their own lives before the government decided people had to be treated like imbecilic children.

Because they never had the freedoms, young folks growing up over the past decades don’t realize how many of the freedoms we had that are long gone.

They have disappeared in the last four or five decades, i.e. since WWII.

Actually, looking back, the breakdown began earlier, about 1913 with political and economic legislation — the IRS, income taxes, federal reserve and other government controls and abuses.

FDR moved the breakdown, along with many of his actions, some of which (the NRA for example) were declared unconstitutional at the time.

Since that time people have run into more and more restrictions in their private lives. with both state and federal governments enacting laws, usually “for their own good” with stiff penalties for noncompliance.

For example, safety devices are required on all newly built mechanical devices.

We must wear helmets to ride a bicycle.

We cannot mine for gold or other minerals without permits, even on our own property.

We must have permits for multiple activities — there are too many to list, even if I, or anyone else, knew them all, which we don’t.

Government proposals invade personal rights even further — we must get rid of our incandescent light bulbs and use the Chinese twisted fluorescent bulbs with mercury in them.

In the past weeks it gets even more personal.

The government proposal is to take obese children from their parents “for their own good,” unless the parent is feeding the child to keep them thin.

These are only a few ideas, but we sure know where our freedoms went,

They were gobbled up by government.