#lifelibertypursuitofhappiness

[orbulze]

Happy birthday to the USA! . . #happy4thusa #indepenceday2021🇺🇸 #4thofjulyfireworks🇺🇸 #caribbeanamerican #freedomgains #lifelibertypursuitofhappiness https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ6Iumag95v/?utm_medium=tumblr

[desertrosecosplay]

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s America’s ass.”-Scott Lang to Capt Steve Rogers ❤️🤍💙🇺🇸🍑🍎 A very American Tuchus Tuesday! . . 📸by @roxas_studios Join me on P8reon or OF for more of this set! . . . #cosplay #america #americasass #americanbooty #americangirl #americanwomen #lifelibertypursuitofhappiness #kcco #chivenation #chivette #cosplaygirl #cosplayersofinstagram #modeling #model #yankeedoodledandy https://www.instagram.com/p/CCWoLDhDKgz/?igshid=1pb19mfm9isu9

[michellevictoriaart]

We all make this choice, consciously or unconsciously, every day every moment. Fear or Freedom Let’s stay in the Freedom category and remain committed to Life Liberty and the Pursuit Of Happiness The true art of living. Art of our times. . . . . . #artofourtimes #lifelibertypursuitofhappiness #pursuehappiness #happiness #liberty #justiceforall #justice #liveyourart #LAartist #kindnessmatters #bekind (at Arts District of Los Angeles) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsD2yf4DwDZ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=b6vspefhqmaq

[socold2121-blog]

It’s OKAY TO BE MAD AS HELL when you spot injustices in the world. The question is, what are you willing to give in order to affect change?

[imgoingn0where]

Life...Liberty...Pursuit...

I don’t really know if anyone is ever going to read this. This is probably going to be the most brutally honest and most informative thing I’ve ever written about myself.  First of all, I’ll explain a few things about me:   * I’m male, also ROMANTICALLY attracted to males.  * I’m somewhere on the asexual spectrum.   * I’m a vegetarian with a tendency towards vegan if given an option.  * I consider myself part of the Goth subculture.   * I’m not religious. Atheist/Agnostic if anything. The reason I felt I needed to share these things is that where I was born...”different” is frowned upon. When I was young, there were a lot of things I kept locked away...because I didn’t know how to express them at that age...and even if I did know how, I would have been too afraid to. My family has adjusted to my “peculiarities” surprisingly well...I never would have expected that. They’ve been very accepting, so in that department...I’ve been very lucky.  Besides all of the things that make me stand out where I live...I’ve always felt unusual. Out of place. Like I don’t belong. I’ve had friends...and I’m a friendly person. I’ve been a cashier for a combined total of 5 years...and while it’s helped me a lot socially, it’s done nothing for my sense of self...or belonging. In order to be good at socializing, and get along with absolutely everyone I meet...I have to hide a major portion of myself. So I quickly figured out that fake smiles are the way to go. As long as everyone else is happy, why does how I feel matter, right? It doesn’t matter that I feel trapped. As long as every single customer has a good, positive experience on the surface...why does what’s inside me matter?  I’m very thankful for the help I’ve had in getting every job I’ve had so far...but something else I need to mention for all of this to hopefully make some sense at all to someone: I was raised by someone who I suspect has Borderline Personality Disorder. I don’t have anything against her or blame her for anything, I know it couldn’t be helped. Due to a lack of willpower...and no sense of boundaries...I let myself be powerless. I sacrifice my own will for the sake of others. No matter what. It’s like I’m a real life version of Ella Enchanted (a fantasy movie I like). I have morals...and I have standards...but sometimes even that doesn’t matter. I can’t say “No”. I can’t say “I’m doing something at the moment, maybe later.” I can’t say “I’m busy”. I can’t say “I have plans.” So I get taken advantage of in a lot of situations.  Especially in work situations. Managers and bosses LOOK for people like me because we do everything we’re told without question or complaint. Nevermind what’s going on inside us. What matters is that we’re willing slaves.  I can explain at least some of the reasons I’m different. I’ve thought about it a lot. I relate to the Goth subculture mostly because of the aesthetic and the music. I grew up with black and white horror movies, because that’s what my grandmother watched. My dad considers himself a “Redneck Goth” (yes, that does actually exist). So I also grew up with Tim Burton movies. My grandmother introduced me to Edward Scissorhands and I always related to him. I related to Lydia in Beetlejuice. I related to “darker” Disney characters. Background characters in shows I liked. Etc. I remember when we read Edgar Allen Poe in class. Everyone else seemed to be either creeped out or bored...but I felt a connection to it. I’ve always loved Alice in Wonderland, too...in any form.  I love nonsense...because for a brief moment, it’s a distraction from the harshness of reality. Nonsense and confusion distract you, even if only for a moment, from what’s really going on around you. Like Fantasy (my favorite genre)...it’s an escape. In reality, I’m powerless...because I make myself powerless...but I don’t know how to stop it. Sure, I COULD walk up to my boss and quote my favorite movie (Jim Henson’s Labyrinth). “You have NO power over me!”...but this doesn’t work as well in reality as it does in fantasy. No one would fly away. I’d be stuck to finish the very real confrontation..and very likely, I’d be fired and have no way to pay for food, rent, and bills. I understand necessity. I get it. “That’s how it works.” “How it works” just happens to rip my soul apart. My whole life...all I’ve known is self inflicted servitude. I’d “tone it down” or “try to look/be normal”. I’ve had to sever myself from who I truly am just so everyone else is happy.  In a perfect world, we should have control over our own bodies...including our external image, right?  ...I feel like my body isn’t even mine. In an effort to have SOME control over myself...I’ve dyed my hair blue-purple...and I loved it. I made a decision and stuck with it. It was mine. MY hair. My color. My choice. MY BODY.  I understand that in some states, countries, etc...hair color isn’t a big deal. Where I live, you can be fired for having “unnatural hair colors”. Sure. I COULD be like every other Goth-inclined person and “Paint it black” (my hair)...but that’s not the point. The point is MY power isn’t my own. I have no power. The color I chose is a “Bad/unacceptable” color. I’ve had people say “It’s just hair. It’s not a big deal.” That’s not even the point. It’s not actually about my hair at all. It’s about POWER. Employers feel the need to tell us how to act, dress, etc. I get it. We have to be a certain way for customers. Uniforms, while I severely dislike the concept, I understand. How else would a customer know how to find a worker? Yes. I get it...but what’s wrong with CUSTOMIZATION?...I know customers (and people in general) can be horrible. “I don’t want to shop where that purple haired freak works!”...but that’s THEIR problem...I understand as a business/corporation/etc...it’s necessary to pull in as much business as possible from as many people as possible...but it’s cruel to stifle someone’s soul simply because you have the power to do so...and even profit from that cruelty.  I’ve been stifled long enough. If I could fight without losing my job, apartment, ability to buy food and water (which are NECESSARY TO LIVE)...I would. So, yes. It feels like slavery to me. I’m getting “paid”, sure. Paid JUST enough to cover the previously mentioned food, bills, rent, etc. Again, things that are NECESSARY. So I don’t even have a life at all. I’m just stuck being everyone else’s toy. I’m “Just part of the merchandise”.  If I can ever develop enough will power to start practicing an instrument (probably Keyboard and vocals...)...I’ve had plans to start a musical project for years. I have so many ideas...so many thoughts...so much creativity and imagination...and it’s all just rotting away...because that’s “Just how it works”.

[gasstationb]

Born on August 29, 1632, John Locke is cited by some scholars for the origin of the phrase "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," in the American Declaration of Independence. They credit Locke's writing that in a natural state all people were equal and independent, and everyone had a natural right to defend his "life, health, liberty, or possessions". While he believed that human nature was characterized by reason and tolerance, he believed that it was the creation of currency that demonstrated our ability to be selfish towards one another. 📕📗📘📙📕📗📘📙 #gasstationburrito #books #bookstagram #bookish #bookworm #booknerd #bookaholic #booklove #bookquotes #bookishfeatures #authorquotes #quotes #bookfeaturepage #bookishfeatures #librarian_of_gram #bookaholic #Instaquotes #igquotes #booksofinstagram #Bookporn #literaryhistory #onthisday #johnlocke #empiricism #enlightenment #classicalliberalism #knowledge #knowledgeispower #lifelibertypursuitofhappiness #lifehealthlibertyorpossessions https://www.instagram.com/p/BnFWzzSAGGW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=kzw6zp288mcd

[mgaudini]

Many People, Many Beliefs -- One Nation

So far this Texas legislative session, we’ve seen, among other things, hostility toward certain religious beliefs and a push for anti-immigrant policies. Other groups have, throughout American history, similarly tried to push out their neighbors based on race, ethnicity, and religion. Much of the wording they used then looks shockingly similar to what some people say today.

Here’s how some of these folks might’ve talked about me back in the day.

On Italians:

"The Germans, the Irish, and others… migrate to this country, adopt its customs, acquire its language, master its institutions, and identify themselves with its destiny. The Italians, never. They remain isolated from the rest of any community in which they happen to dwell. They seldom learn to speak our tongue, they have no respect for our laws or our form of government, they are always foreigners." (Washington Post, 1896)

On Roman Catholics:

“Whereas, under the present unhappy Circumstances of this Province, with Respect to an Indian War, and the dreadful Apprehensions of an Invasion by a foreign Enemy, in Conjunction with the Savages, with Intent to destroy the Liberties we enjoy under our present most happy Constitution in Church and State, it is thought necessary and expedient to take all reasonable and just Measures to prevent the Growth of Popery, and to lay the Popish Priests and Jesuits (those great Enemies to our Laws, Liberties and Religion), under some more severe Restraint than they have heretofore been.” (Bill in the Maryland House of Representatives, 1756)

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America is about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, not about trying to control who your neighbors are and what they believe.

[blindprovidence]

I'm an adult. #lifelibertypursuitofhappiness #bed #lotuspose