Security VS Freedom

Which do you value more Security or Freedom? I submit that to the degree that you pursue one, you loose the other. To build this thesis more, one need look no farther than compromises made by the American people over time to allow for Social Security, Income Tax, Medicare, 401K plans, etc. Scrutiny of these will demonstrate that each provides a sense of "security" while robbing you of freedom. This is a controversial concept and I acknowledge that I have labored under the hope that I could place my trust in these and other programs only to find that my trust was misplaced. I could dissect each of these, but let me take just one. Social Security. Those of us in the "employee" paradigm are taxed at near 8% while our employer is taxed at nearly another 8%, resulting in a net tax of nearly 16%. When social security was first initiated it was a voluntary program, now it is law AND there were approximately 42 individuals paying into the program for every 1 person drawing from the program. By the year 2016 approximately 3 people will be drawing from the program for every person contributing to the program. So we submit ourselves to Social Security law in hopes of security only to find that it is now compulsory, so 16% of your labor is confiscated, freedom is compromised and security is a myth as more is now being extracted from the program than is going in. While sobering to contemplate there is another way...if you value freedom over security. I suggest a book by Robert Kiyosaki entitled: "Prophecy" (I got this book from my local library and it took two evenings to read). The primary premise of this book is that Financial Literacy is critical to individual financial freedom. There are 4 categories of economic consideration: Employees, Self Employed, Business Owners, and Investors. The latter two, Business Owners, and true Investors, are in the best and perhaps ONLY position to obtain financial freedom. This is true due to a number of factors, the primary being the ways tax laws are written to benefit business owners AND cashflow producing benefits of true assets obtained by astute Investors. On a personal note I am in the process of obtaining the financial literacy necessary to pursue the position of business owner / investor. It it simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying to step out of a way of thinking that has predominated my way of life for 42 years. My goal is freedom and the true security that comes from self reliance. The mere act of embarking on this journey has resulted in more mental freedom than I ever anticipated. Come with me:-)