today is a day we should all get in touch with our philosopher kings and consider what it means to be free. what we are willing to do for a "free market". how free we are to make our own decisions or to reject our citizenship. today i am particularly interested in thinking about the OG founders of the US of A and their ideals for the land. i cannot resist mourning for the indigenous populations of this continent and the total loss of recognition of their peoplehood; what should be their natural born rights stolen from them as if they were not human. this hideous treatment continues today, and i refuse to be proud of it. i am ashamed of this cruel legacy in the name of the dollar.
the US of A was not founded on freedom and good will, it was founded under the pretenses that some people didn't want to pay the church (and state) of England most of their wages. it was founded on the idea that there was a better form of governing, a more fair and just governing of it's men (not women, children, people with any higher degree of skin pigmentation).
although there is much to be angry about, much to protest and we retain our right to protest (only on paper), i do feel some love in my heart for "Amercia"(really, Mitt?): i live in a beautiful place that i am allowed to have an abortion, own land, obtain material possessions, play in National Forests and Parks. i am proud to be free to choose to believe or not in a diety and show as much or little skin as i please. i am proud that my husband was raised in a society where he was taught to respect women and love his daughters. i am happy we are not starving and we are vaccinated for many awful diseases.
i beg you, my fellow americans, today as you watch the fireworks with your beer goggles on to appreciate that you can- drink beer; speak about the injustices at current and how you can help change them; control your personal reproduction; vote; own land; and have the choice to become educated.
feliz quattro de juilo, amigos.
Still working on that 'more perfect union.' It's entirely possible to love this place even while accepting the shortcomings, acknowledging the unjust systems, and the way so many people refuse to recognize them because then we'd have to actually, you know, DO something. We've come a long way, and we should be proud of that, even while we strive to go even further.
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