(In)Dependence Day?!
July 4th. The day Americans celebrate our claim of independence from England …231 years ago.
First and foremost, I’d like to say THANK YOU to all members of our military, past, present, and future, for the choices and sacrifices you have made so the rest of us may live the lives we value. I sincerely honor the decision you have made to serve our country and to protect the ideals of freedom which we hold. Whether we agree or not with the politics, the specifics of the battles, the motivations for war, the cost (on many levels), the spiritual aspirations or ideals we may hold, or anything else… thank you. You are appreciated. You are loved. You are honored. We want you home, safe, back to the arms of your loved ones, hoping never to lose you or any of those whom we love to such a primitive solution as war to what amounts to a difference of spiritual and economic opinion. I hope soon, that these battles, these wars, will become unnecessary and recognized for the archaic and barbaric thing that they are, but until then, thank you. You, your decisions, your sacrifices, are appreciated. May you be home soon. Namaste.
Now, about that (in)dependence…
Two Hundred and Thirty One years ago, we declared ourselves independent from Mother England. We declared ourselves independent from rules and regulations and politics which were no longer applicable to our existence, our well-being, or our beliefs, and which mostly were in the self-serving interest of a ruling few. We decreed that we would make decisions for ourselves, locally and nationally, and that tyranny and greed were not morals we valued. Our Founding Fathers set up a system of government that would ensure a limit to the abuse of power (so they thought, believed, and hoped) by individuals and agencies as the country grew, and which would instill pride and humility and honor and patriotism across a large band of the populace who would be called to serve a term in some branch of government during their lifetimes. I am sure those sitting in Philadelphia 231 years ago did not envision career-politicians, wide-spread irresponsibility and apathy among the general population, like what we seem to have in place now.
Our country has been in existence for a mere 231 years. That is only a few generations of Americans to walk our lands, work the soil, build our buildings, and corrupt the government enough where, to my mind, it strongly resembles that which we sought to escape. Do old habits die that hard that despite our efforts to escape tyranny 231 years ago, we have only managed to recreate it? Are these patterns and expectations of “what is” ingrained in us that deeply? Or tell, me – what has changed since the peers of your great-great-great-grandparents were sitting at that table in Philadelphia a mere handful of lifetimes ago?
I won’t often make political posts or commentary. I believe our political system flawed, corrupted and abused by a few… bastardized beyond what it was ever supposed to be, and although it is much more honest and true and humanitarian than many systems in the world today, and I truly cherish my right to speak my mind and the other freedoms I am entitled to by our government and laws, it is disappointing that it has become so corrupted in so many ways, over such a relatively short period of time. I implore any who stumble across this blog to evaluate for themselves all the situations in their worlds -on small and large scale, personal, political, environmental, and more- and to make aware, conscious decisions at every opportunity. The implications of accepting personal responsibility for all things are immense…
Namaste.
Happy Independence Day.
You must belogged in to post a comment.