“Born in the USA, I was born in the USA,” sang, sort of, the Boss. But who could deny his ability to connect with the working-class American?

The teacher's favorite tavern was crowded. The light was low. The conversation buzzed.

“Do you like games?” the teacher asked.

“Yes, a lot,” the curious student responded.

“Why don't you go play with him?” the teacher nodded with his chin at the gentleman in the corner.

The student pulled up a chair across from the man dressed with aplomb.

“Just in time,” said the gentleman with a German accent, about to deal some cards.

“What game are we playing?”

“It's called ‘Trade.' There are three phases. The first phase is the deal. The second phase is similar to ‘Go Fish' where we make some trades. The third phase is the result.”

“What's the object of the game?”

“Why, to lead as good of life as possible, of course,” the gentleman answered as though he were stating the obvious.

The cards were dealt. The gentleman raised his eyebrows all the way to his hairline, staring at the student's cards.

“My God,” he exclaimed, “I've never seen such a hand. That's called a ‘United States.' It can't be beaten. It's the best there is.”

“All my cards say ‘Freedom,'” the student noticed, though he also noticed what looked like a warning on the back of the card.

“Yes, indeed. Well, let's play anyway. Even though you have all the Freedom cards, why don't you trade me one?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because, freedom can be dangerous. For example, freedom in business implies that one is free to fail, not just to succeed. So, if you trade me your freedom card, I, in turn, will trade you my Bailout card. That way, if you fail at your business, the government will bail you out.”

“Done,” said the student with excitement. Now he felt safe.

“Now,” said the Teuton, “I'll trade you a Czar for one of your other Freedom cards.”

“Why?”

“Because, your kind of freedom is cumbersome. It is so much more efficient to simply have a czar as opposed to a Congress that can only agree to halt progress. You want to make progress don't you?”

“Yes,” reasoned the student and gladly handed over another Freedom card in exchange for a Czar card.

“One last trade,” announced the Deutscher. “I'll trade you a Health card for your last Freedom card.”

“I don't know; it's my last Freedom card.”

“Yes, but look at it this way. If you get sick, don't you want someone else to pay for it? If you make this trade, someone else will be responsible for your health care. Isn't that great?”

“Yes,” shouted the Student, rising in triumph, “I win!”

Steel bars slammed down around the student, pinning his arms to his side.

“No, you lose, fool. You have no more freedom. The object of the game was not to be as stupid as possible, but to live as good of life as possible. You cannot do that while you are a slave.”

“I'm not a slave,” shouted the student.

“You didn't read the warnings on the back of your cards. The whole time the warnings were there for you to observe. They warned you that trading this card, no matter how good the trade sounded, would result in serfdom and slavery. You see, I've been around longer than you. I lived through those kinds of trades. Our government enslaved us and tried to enslave the world. You've read about World War II, haven't you? My last name begins with ‘H.'”

The gentleman disappeared, as did the bars around the student, who made his way back to the teacher.

“Get me five Stellas,” the student whispered, terribly shaken by the ordeal. “You need to be more careful in who you steer me towards.” He glared at the teacher. “Hitler is not someone I want to play with.”

“Hitler? That wasn't Hitler. That was Hayek. He made it his life's goal to warn people about what prepared the way for Hitler. You see, governmental policy is a path. The conservative path leads to prosperity. The liberal path leads to tyranny and slavery.”

The sullen student looked unconvinced and ungrateful for the lesson.

“Go talk to him,” the teacher pointed authoritatively.

Reluctantly the student went and sat with another gentleman, afraid.

“Young friend,” said another German, Johann Christian Friedrich Holderlin, “what has always made the state a hell on earth has been precisely that man has tried to make it his heaven.”

The student returned again to the teacher, never having seen him this stern.

“Never trade your freedom for the false promises of liberalism. And never mistake this present evil age for heaven. Heaven and earth will only be one when the real King returns.”

“Does anyone really know what time it is?” sang Chicago.

Bob Branden is host of the podcast http://twomenandabible.podomatic.com/