I have used this space to rant against government tyranny on some occasions in the past. Today, I wish to use it to reflect… and remember
Reflection and reminiscing of old are both good for the soul.
I remember growing up in, what was then, the northwest corner of Phoenix, Arizona. A little hamlet called “Sunnyslope”. It was a quite little place, free of the pain and suffering of inner cities to come, lie those which had already risen in places like New York City and Chicago.
I was free to think, believe, dream, act and say pretty much whatever I liked. No retribution, except of course, from my father, should I choose to be insolent, demeaning, or down-right rude to someone.
I remember throwing firecrackers in the field across the street on 4th of July – only to have to run across the street and put out the fires (barefooted, I might add) started by my ignorance of the mixture of gunpowder, flame, and extremely dry weeds and grass in Phoenix during the July heat.
So what does this have to do with celebrating freedom?
I reflect on how uncomplicated life was. There were men and women – not transgenders, cross-dressers and other types, confused by their “gender roles”. And it was a very strange thing indeed to even consider that men would marry men or women would marry women. Or that men would go into women’s public restrooms because they felt “more at home” there. But had this happened, it could have been freely and openly discussed without fear of the thought police coming to arrest someone for “hate crimes”.
It seems, in my reflection, that we are really no longer free – government has regulated away freedoms, and I believe that Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Greene, Payne and all of the others who felt it necessary to break away from the Crown of England for freedom’s sake, would be aghast of the yokes, chains and bonds that we have been shackled with – all in the name of “freedom”.
I believe that the grumblings we here and read about from the common people today, (of which I am one) is, in a way, the very grievousness that the great men listed above were groaning about in 1775 – 1776.
They fought valiantly against such odds that we could not imagine. They stood up for what they believed in and they printed and spoke loudly in the public square that the abominations of the Crown should be repelled at all costs. Even at the cost of their very lives.
But today, we have become a society of whiners and complainers that is more concerned about who won in “American Idol” or with “Desperate Housewives” than we are about our freedom. The very essence of freedom has been slowly bleeding out of our lives as we have watched on the sidelines – immersed in the pot of complacency slowly warming on the fire – the comforting warmth of the pot, viewed as “luxury” or “entertainment”.
Our rights are being stripped away under the guise of “human rights” and “hate crimes”.
Yet, here I am. Writing this freely, without threat of incarceration – for now. So, I will celebrate te freedoms that I still have – but I will not sit in the pot any longer – no, rather, I will speak and write loudly for all to hear, until such time as my right to say these things is taken and I will go to jail for my beliefs and for speaking and thinking the way that I do.
It is my way of celebrating freedom…
–Pat