Independence Day

This was written in my journal and posted in my Facebook notes.

Today is Independence Day, when we celebrate a state grown much larger than the one from which the Founders seceded. This is one of the reasons why I don’t really care about Independence Day. Are we really that much better than England or Canada? Another issue is the fact that a declaration is pretty useless at the beginning of a war. What happens if things don’t turn around in ’77 and ’78 or the British regain control in’80? The decisive battle of Yorktown wasn’t fought until fall 1781 and the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. The principles in the Declaration weren’t followed at the beginning and aren’t followed now. The inalienable rights obviously didn’t apply to blacks or the indigenous Americans. Also, the Founders rebelled over minimal taxation, while today, people can easily lose half their income in taxes. Besides the loss of property (through taxation and corrupt eminent domain policies), this is a government that will easily turn on its own citizens (i.e, Waco and Ruby Ridge) and sees fit to dispose of habeas corpus (Military Commissions Act) and hold citizens in a brig for a few years without trial (Joseph Padilla). If the Founders were here today, there would possibly be burning effigies, tar and feathers (I don’t advocate violence), in general raising hell. Not that these were perfect men. In fact, many of them were giant hypocrites. How do you own another man? However, they had some good ideas.
So as you kick it at your barbecues today, if you actually claim to be celebrating Independence Day, what exactly are you celebrating your independence from? You may or may not be able to use firecrackers on your own property, and you certainly may not decide what to put into your own body. Your money, willingly or not, is taken to kill foreigners in another land who have done you no wrong and are themselves seeking independence from foreign occupation. Does that sound familiar? At least the British could claim some sort of right, since these states were their colonies.
However, I am certainly not opposed to the idea of barbecuing and drinking beer, especially on such a fine Friday as this. But let’s just be honest about what it is. Put down that damn Kool-Aid! Please don’t drink the Kool-Aid. I saw a man putting something in it, and he was wearing a red, white, and blue top hat with stars. He also had a white goatee. Stick with the bottled beer for your own safety. I recommend Samuel Adams.