In an age of tyranny, the courage to stand up for liberty is priceless...
In 2049, the world has become a different place.
In 2049 China has surpassed the United States as the world's major superpower; Europe is in economic shambles, and Germany considers leaving the European Union as protest against bailing out the EU multiple times. The United States has changed as well. The President is a cold, ruthless man intent on ruling the world under his One World Government concept. The rights and freedoms of individuals have been suppressed, taxation has become oppressive, and the economy is in shambles.
Unions force individuals to become members, only to line the pockets of the union executives. Small businesses are almost nonexistent due to government red tape and crony capitalism. In the South, a small coalition of politicians, intent on returning liberty, begin to talk of a revolt against the federal government.
Kirk Dillon is a retired Army officer turned writer living with his high school age son in a small town east of Cincinnati. Kirk has spent his life standing up for liberty and freedom, only to become disgusted at what has become of his once great nation. When Kirk's son is taken by the national police for "reeducation", Kirk swings into action.
Accompanied by his longtime friend Matt Pickett, Kirk rescues his son. Pursued relentlessly by the national police, the trio embark on a perilous journey south in an effort to escape to freedom.
Why AJ Reissig wrote Escape To Freedom
The United States Constitution is the blueprint for the government of our nation. More than anything else, it places limitations on our national government's powers. The federal government only has the powers that the Constitution specifically grants to it. Why the emphasis on limiting the power of the federal government?
Quite simply, the founders experience with England. They had seen firsthand a powerful central government with few limits on government powers, and where freedom and liberty were of secondary concern to the government.
In 1798, only ten years after the ratification of the United States Constitution, John Adams ratified the Alien and Sedition Acts. These acts restricted the freedom of speech by making it illegal to criticize Congress or the President. A number of newspaper publishers, refusing to give up their right to freedom of speech, went to prison because of these acts. The Alien and Sedition Acts eventually expired, but the precedent had been set for the federal government to restrict personal liberty.
Lincoln intensified the expansion of power during the Civil War. Freedom of speech was censored, resulting in many journalists and politicians who disagreed with Lincoln going to prison. What's more, their right to habeus corpus (a right granted by the US Constitution) was suspended, meaning they could not petition the courts for release due to unlawful imprisonment.
This paled in comparison to the expansion of the federal government by FDR. Beginning with his new deal and continuing through the Second World War, the government of the United States grew by leaps and bound. This continued after the war, albeit at a slower pace.
Over the past few decades, I have watched the acceleration of the pace of government growth. We have now reached a point where you can buy no product that is not regulated by the government, and government's burdensome regulations are becoming a massive drag on our economy.
As well, we are now living in an era where the government is attempting to micromanage all aspects of our lives. Government run healthcare, retirement, welfare...all things that the government tells us are for our benefit...take away the individual liberties and freedoms of the American citizens. As our liberties are eroded, citizens are becoming less productive and dependent on the government...just the opposite of what the Founding Fathers would have wanted.
When will we say enough? More and more power concentrated in the hands of a few will lead us down a path of tyranny. We have seen this happen many times throughout history. No matter if we are talking about the Patriot Act, which allows federal agents to write their own warrants (in direct violation of the US Constitution), the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), or the Alien and Sedition Acts, it all adds up to the same thing...the loss of individual freedoms and liberties.
Escape to Freedom is a political thriller that illustrates where we are headed as a nation. Book two is well under way, and will be release sometime in 2013. It will pick up where book one ended. You can read more about book two, as well as get updates on the progress of the book, on the blog page at FreedomRedux.com Twitter page @FreedomRedux
AJ Reissig lives in New Richmond, Ohio. His novel series, FreedomRedux, revolves around a United States of the future that is governed by a totalitarian regime that is bent on world domination, and those who wish to restore the United States to the nation that the founding fathers intended.