On New Year's Day of 1863, the first Republican Party President, Abraham Lincoln, with the stroke of his pen signed the historic Emancipation Proclamation. Only someone totally devoid of an education does not know how that document changed the course of history for an entire race of people, an entire nation and an entire culture. In essence, it ended the horrors of slavery. It ended the owning of members of one race by members of another race.

Unfortunately,too many citizens do not recognize the revival of slavery, albeit more refined and less obvious enslavement. And, sadly, today more and more Americans are willing to give up certain freedoms in return for the promise of government largesse. And most of these citizens don't even realize what they're doing, because the news media are failing to perform their role as purveyors of truth and accuracy.

Enslavement will not come with a bang, but with a slow, relentless whimper. Each day, each week, each month, each year brings us closer to a state of de facto slavery as a result of greed disguised as "civil rights."

Ask most Americans and they will tell you that food, clothing, shelter and other necessities are "rights." Surely, they are necessities, but they are not rights that need to be provided by an omnipotent government.

And even when warranted, government charity has a way of morphing into government nightmares.

For example, part of President Lyndon Baines Johnson's "Great Society" poured billions of taxpayer dollars into a program that did more damage to the American family than any other handout. While the government paid women who bore children a monthly allowance based on the number of children in the household, it did not understand that the way the program's requirements were structured, millions of men left the home and in fact decided that the need for marriage was trumped by the need -- or desire -- for "free" money.

And yet, rather than retreat from government-run social programs, presidential administrations and lawmakers willingly continue to embrace spending programs that at best do not solve the problems they were created to solve, while at worst they create additional societal problems.

Today, the average citizen lives a fragile existence, in a struggle for survival that can be ended by missing a few paychecks. The carrot at the end of the stick which was formerly known as "the American dream" has been replaced by a whip that can best be described as the American nightmare. You no longer work to achieve a better life for yourselves and your children. You work to keep a roof over your head, and you pray that you don't lose it because of oppressive taxation. Most Americans are oblivious to the excessive taxation, believing it only happens each April 15. They are not told by leaders or most of the media that besides income tax, they are taxed for just about every action they take. Go over a bridge, pay a toll (tax); paying your utility bills, pay surcharges (taxes); buy a product, pay sales tax; buy fuel for a vehicle, pay federal and state taxes.

Americans become de facto slaves when fear replaces incentive such as motivation to work. The leftist media regurgitates liberal-left talking points disguised as news stories about the wealthy living it up while the common man and woman struggles to feed themselves and their children. The idea is as old as Marxism. Even older. Create dissatisfaction to the point that people will seek out populists who promise much but deliver nothing but more power to themselves and their puppet masters.

The latest promise of a heaven on earth is Obama's medical care plan. Dressed up with flowery language and high-sounding platitudes, it is nothing more than a grand power grab of life-and-death decision-making.

A friend asked me rhetorically: Why would Americans turn over their health and welfare -- their very lives -- to a bunch of crooked politicians who spend most of their time covering up, lying, cajoling and cheating, all in the name of power?

Why are Americans so quick to turn life-and-death decisions to a government that continues to have a problem covering up its sex scandals? Could it be they want to be enslaved?