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Day 25 ~ Independence day!

25/365 It’s the fourth of July. The day we Americans celebrate our independence. This was once my favorite holiday, I love my country, but today I don’t feel much like celebrating. Don’t get me wrong, I understand how great this country has, and can be. I believe the birth of our nation was a spectacularly heroic event that spawned countless other triumphs. The accomplishments we as a nation have made in the past are well documented and worthy of celebration.

Still, I can’t help ask the question, is a nation and its’ people judged by the past alone? Should we be happy and celebratory given the current state of our union? I recently went to Germany with a group of young Americans. They were honestly ashamed to admit their nationality choosing instead to pretend they were Canadian. How could this be? Our actions over the last eight years have done more to undermine the foundations of our nation, and our standing in the world, then all our so-called enemies combined.

We turned a blind eye to Kyoto even though it’s clear our country is a leader in globally destructive green house emissions. We started a war under blatantly false pretences. We funded said war through huge loans from China rather then higher taxes as was the case for every other war effort we undertook. We violated human rights and the Geneva Convention by torturing war prisoners. We lost civil liberties in the name of Home Land Security. We currently hold prisoners without the writ of habeas corpus We repealed environmental legislation in order to clear the way for coal mining interests, and feed China’s growing thirst for energy. In doing so we destroyed countless ecosystems, and standards of living especially in West Virginia mountain top removal projects. We listened to our president when, in the midst of this generation’s darkest hour post 911, he urged us to get out and spend more money. We allowed the precipitous weakening of the dollar by building a false sense of economic strength through the use of cheep and easy credit. We re-elected the man who made many of these decisions. We watched as our government ineptly fumbled aid efforts while women and children died in New Orleans. Now we watch as gas nears five dollars a gallon and our president tries to repeal more environmental protections to drill for more oil.

Granted many of us never voted for the man, we didn’t get to make those decisions, and many of us were outraged by his administration, but are we doing enough? Our government is supposed to be by the people, and for the people. Today it’s by big business, for big business. We are told that to question the government’s actions is un-patriotic. We are told if we don’t side with the war in Iraq we side with the terrorists. The only thing more outrageous then the rhetoric is that many Americans believe it. We as a people can’t properly participate in the process if we fail to educate ourselves about the realities surrounding us at home and abroad. As the late George Carlin once said, “It’s called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe in it.”

It is our responsibility as Americans to wake up and seek the truth, carry out public discourse on political matters, and demand change when we see fit. Generations before us had their moments in history where in they were called to rise up and demonstrate that which makes America great. Perhaps our moment is now. It is up to us to stand before our leaders, see through the rhetoric, and demand that our government be wrestled away from big business and returned it to it’s rightful owners, the people. Until we do, I can’t celebrate the birth of a nation that teeters on the brink of losing every liberty, ideal, and human right it was founded to champion and protect.

Posted by Bondseye on 2008-07-04 21:51:00

Tagged: , 365 , self , portrait , self portrait , me , American , flag , independence , day , fourth , july , 4th , fire , works , sparkler , American flag , patriotic , weekend America , political , election , shirtless , chest , man , dude , crazy , fire works

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