For many, the 4th of July brings together friends and family, feasting on charcoal-cooked delicacies and taking in a fireworks display from a local civic organization. While you reap the holiday’s bounty, keep in mind a few things.
We, as Americans, are blessed with liberties set forth by our Founding Fathers, and it is our civic duty to continue in their footsteps. Those who imprinted their names upon the Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to achieve freedom from the absentee British Empire. The independence we gained was not merely for its own sake, but for a desire to preserve self-determination and forge a will to pursue our own course as individuals.
George Washington and Benjamin Franklin are not just faces which peer from our currency. They, among many others, did not wait until every vestige of liberty had been stolen from them. They understood precedents unchallenged become the norm in a society.
The recent uprisings in Iran (among countless other examples history illustrates) only reinforce the fact that we are fortunate enough to live in a nation which allows us to practice our own religion, have a say in how our government is run, and be able to reinvent ourselves as individuals, families and businesses as many times as it takes to become successful.
No, it is not Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, nor should it be. Yes, it is convenient to become downtrodden and lash out at those who have brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy. We are ultimately in control of our own destiny and can right this ship once more. Think of that while the proud strains of Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” play in time to the ubiquitous fireworks that light up the nighttime sky.
4th of July is INDEPENDENCE DAY and celebrates freedom and liberty.
It is also a day of mourning. I mourn the freedoms lost by federal laws.
Let us recall and resent our independence as infringed by the federal government.
Example: the FDA has made raw milk a CRIME so I can no longer be independent and buy it.
Example: the fed. gov. has NAIS which is CRIMINAL not to number, register, pay fees for every animal for everybody. I can no longer own a pet tarantula freely without this interference.
Example: HR 2749 wants it CRIMINAL not to pay a $500 fee and register electronically, get an identifier number, trace distribution and keep detailed records of any sold food moving from your kitchen, no matter how small. So I lose my freedom to bake you a cake and if you buy the materials.
nicely written janice. valid points doris. sometimes the theory isnt the practice.
How the democrats could want more government control and higher taxes is beyond me…We need to have more Boston
tea parties and keep the government out of our kitchens and bedrooms…When does individual responsibility come into play? The government under democratic leadership…want cradle to grave control of the populace….Think France….
CHARLIE, I like that! Keep the government out of our bedrooms and kitchens.