“Land of the free, home of the brave” doesn’t apply to the US anymore, but don’t tell that to the brainwashed sheeple still singing it at the top of their lungs. The flat fact is that we’re not brave, no matter which side of the aisle we’re cowering in. As a country, we are motivated almost entirely by fear. Fear of terrorism, fear of conspiracy, fear of conspiracy theorists, fear of global warming, fear of declining industry, fear of job loss, fear of socialism, fear of capitalism, fear of persecution, fear of political incorrectness, fear of freeloaders, fear of everything under the sun.

And let’s not even get started on being free. The US has the highest incarceration rate of any nation on the planet. That is the essence of not being free. Per capita, more Americans are in cages than North Koreans. Let that sink in.

Beyond that, consider this madness: your stuff can be confiscated, you can be put in prison, your kids can be removed from your custody, and you can even be killed without being charged with any crime. None of that is an exaggeration.

Civil asset forfeitures do not require an indictment. And losses from civil asset forfeitures exceeded losses from burglary in 2014. Wow. You can be put in prison on suspicion of terrorism without any charges being filed—thanks to the PATRIOT Act. You can have your children removed from your custody even if you haven’t broken any laws. Child “Protective” “Services” (CPS) is a bureaucratic organization with its own standards, most of which are far more stringent than law enforcement’s.

How do I know this? I’ve had my own children taken away from me by CPS. They of course dismissed every single one of their claims after a four-month legal battle (because [surprise!] I’m actually not an abusive parent), yet what repercussions did CPS face for “illegally” and “groundlessly” taking my children in spite of the fact that I was not charged with any crime? None. My family’s civil suit against them was unceremoniously dismissed by an unelected court commissioner after four years of delays.

And guess what, if you resist arrest, the police can shoot you. Whether you’re being pulled over for a broken tail light or being pursued for a capital crime, it doesn’t matter. Without charging you with any crime, the police can shoot you if you don’t politely and respectfully comply with any and every wish they might have for you. And they get away with it too. No matter how unreasonable they are being.

And what are we supposed to do about it? Consider all that I’ve mentioned. Just who is responsible for your lack of freedom? It’s not elected officials for the most part. The police are not elected. CPS bureaucrats are not elected. Agents for the TSA, DHS, NSA, FBI, IRS and others are not elected. The judges who uphold civil forfeiture, unjust imprisonment, and police brutality are not elected. An increasing number of prisons are privately owned and operated. Even our money supply is controlled by private interests since even the “Federal” Reserve is private.

Think about all of that. Whether you put this or that puppet in the Oval Office will have very little impact on any of this. With that in mind, politics has become the opiate of the masses. We tell ourselves we are free because we believe that we have a choice. We really don’t.