Vice President Biden sparked widespread indignation by suggesting that the Republican candidates for President and Vice President would put us “back in chains.”  Doug Wilder, the nation’s first black governor, blasted Biden and demanded an apology for his insensitive remark. A Washington apology is about as frequent as Halley’s Comet, so I won’t be holding my breath. There may be a little back-peddling and posturing, but no full retraction is forthcoming.

Putting voters back in chains is an ironic metaphor.  Historically, those in chains didn’t have the right to vote, much less enjoy the benefits of a free society.  And yet we’ve been warned of an imminent reduction of freedom and the unleashing of Wall Street tyranny and recklessness if Republicans take control of the White House.  Politicians carry little or no authority to establish a particular worldview, but they can certainly espouse an obtuse direction.  Metaphors aside, only those who break the law are in danger of being shackled.  But even prisoners have rights.

Limited government has a long history, which we seem to forget.  Conversely, those episodes where government assumed full control of their subjects are featured prominently in our textbooks and the evening news.  They are known by names such as Pol Pot, Stalin, Mussolini, Hussein, Kim Jong-il, Ahmadinejad, Castro, and of course, Hitler.  As their citizens ceded huge tracts of personal freedom, responsibility and security to these leaders, they unknowingly offered their own backs and hands as instruments of political or national enslavement.

Historically, new world slaves were kidnapped and transported across the Atlantic against their wills.  The egregious nature of this practice was aggravated by the fact that it was predicated upon race and intended for life. Though we’ve not completely eradicated the systematic practice of racism, our collective economic condition is spiraling into a state of enslavement.  Those who willingly choose to place their well-being into the hands of government forfeit their humanity by assuming an identity crafted and managed solely by their benefactors. In such a condition, these individuals have already begun living a life in chains.