Jr. Patriot Report - August 2025

John Stumpner

More on Freedom

ABATE of Wisconsin is all about freedom of the road. This is no secret to ABATE members and those who care to find out what we believe. Unfortunately, many poorly informed people still think we're just the people that don't like helmets. If they would take the time to educate themselves, they would find that many ABATE members wear helmets when riding and that we stand for personal choice and freedom only.

As you also know, ABATE is one of the most powerful grass roots lobbying groups in the state of Wisconsin. Unfortunately, in our extremely separated political world, people in our society and the media insist you call yourself a Democrat or Republican. These are political parties and ABATE of Wisconsin supports neither one, but rather wants to work with both to preserve freedom of the road. If any label has to be attached to ABATE, that would be “libertarian.”

A libertarian is one who believes in as little government interference as possible in our personal lives. As long as we're not hurting someone else, we should be able to live as we'd like. That could mean whether or not we choose to wear a helmet when riding. It can also include such things as choosing a battery or gasoline powered motorcycle or where we want to get our motorcycle fixed. As freedom loving citizens, we don't want or need government or big corporations telling us what we can and can't do.

ABATE of Wisconsin believes in being out front in supporting our freedoms. We can take our example from sisters Gussie and Addie Van Buren. In 1916, the two sisters rode their motorcycles from New York to San Francisco. This was during a time of few roads and when women had little rights or freedoms. They were arrested a few times during the trip, not for speeding, but for wearing their “nifty leather and khaki uniforms.” Gussie and Addie wanted to show that women could ride as well as men and serve as dispatch riders. While they were unsuccessful at becoming military dispatch riders themselves, they did pave the way for the future. By the 1930's and 1940's, the Army was using women as dispatch riders and even as test pilots.

In the same way, ABATE of Wisconsin works to preserve and expand our freedoms. We are neither Democratic nor Republican, but all about freedom of the road. And while the efforts we make today may not show any immediate results, we know that you as Junior Patriots will have the freedoms we have today and more.

John