There’s no question that the concept of Freedom of Speech, as guaranteed to all Americans by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States as part of the Bill of Rights, has clearly been adulterated by both the public and the government.
A little background:
The U.S. was founded based on the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The second sentence, called the “the most potent and consequential words in American history” (ref: Ellis, American Creation, 55–56.), is now well-known:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”
Those words have been used to protect the rights of Americans, and said to represent the moral standard of the U.S.
The Declaration of Independence was followed in 1788 by the Constitution of the U.S. Here is the preamble:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
President Abraham Lincoln promoted the idea that the concepts embodied in the Declaration Of Independence should be the basis of interpretation for the Constitution.
The Bills of Rights, ratified in 1791, consists of the first 10 amendments to the constitution. Here is the preamble:
“The Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.”
It was written to help clarify and uphold the Constitution, which was written to uphold our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The First Amendment is Freedom of Speech.
Jump forward to 2010, and the American population’s state of health. Specifically, diabetes.
According to the National Diabetes Fact Sheet for 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 57 million people are pre-diabetic, 17.9 million people have a current diagnosis of diabetes, an additional 5.7 million are estimated to be diabetic, and 1.6 million over-twenty-year-olds are newly diagnosed every year.
And, by the way, some of these people are children.
Diabetes is now the 7th leading cause of death in the U.S. Prior to death, diabetics will endure years of suffering. They’ll have heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, some will go blind, others kidneys will fail (diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure), their nervous system will be damaged, sometimes their lower limbs will be amputated.
They’ll be on medications for years. Medications that have their own side effects, some of which require other medications.
Not exactly the Life, Liberty or Pursuit of Happiness our founding fathers had in mind. And not what we ourselves desire.
Then someone develops a product that has helped many, many people prevent diabetes, keep it under control or even reverse it. A product that makes people healthier, not drugs that have side effects that could endanger a person’s health even further.
It could save millions of lives, it could prevent millions of lives from being ruined, years of hardship, suffering and expense for entire families.
And it could reduce the $208 billion plus being paid in diabetes-related medical costs, disability, work loss, premature mortality.
And, yet, the government, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) tells him he’s not allowed to tell anyone about it. Accuses him of making false claims, without presenting any evidence, and publishes it broadly for all the world to see.
People have the right to know, the right to choose, the right to select from all of their options.
And we have the right to tell them. As do you.
We seem to live in a world of FTC Censorship.
Are you having similar problems? Find out about your rights. And help salvage your business or the legitimate businesses that have something to offer and are, as our founding fathers intended, helping you achieve a long and healthy life in pursuit of happiness.
Tell us your story.
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