Not feeling it today

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, education, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

In recent years, I’ve found it rather impossible to ‘celebrate’ the Independence Day, or July 4th holiday. Too much of what the nation once stood for is being destroyed, and today those who would call themselves “patriots” seem to be the ones actually doing the destroying. Friend Brosephus has captured and shares my thoughts quite nicely in his post today, so without further ado, I point you in his direction. Thanks, Bro!

The Mind of Brosephus

I woke up this morning, and the calendar said July 4, 2023. Independence Day in America is here. Funny thing is, I’m not in a celebratory mood at all. How do you celebrate independence when you know that people are not free to be independent in this country?

Maybe it doesn’t feel like Independence Day because the 4th isn’t a very significant date for independence. Yeah, I know the Declaration of Independence is dated July 4, 1776. In reality, the vote for independence actually occurred on July 2nd, and the document was signed on August 2nd.

That document reads in part:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from…

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34 thoughts on “Not feeling it today”

  1. I think we perhaps look at the American past with rose colored glasses when it comes to Independence Day. We have much baggage as a country and a really good bit of it now, as well.
    The experiment is not going well and many people are suffering and will suffer from greed, hate, religion, politics and the ultimate danger…climate change.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Some do, for sure. Those who claim that America is and has always been ‘Great’ are wearing blinders because to them, Black people, Indigenous People, Asians, LGBTQ and the rest are somehow “lesser” humans, not as valuable as those straight, white males and those who worship them. Thus it always has been, and for a time I thought the times were changing, I know believe thus it will always be. Some people … not all … thrive on bigotry in all its forms and believe they are truly superior beings, while in fact, I see them as inferior.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I tell myself “it’s just a test Rich”. No one can give you freedom an NO ONE can take it away. It can only be won with hard work and a willingness to shed blood. Lucky people sometimes get a respite, most have to pick themselves from the ground and continue the battle without rest. There is no higher power, I alone can choose. The Declaration did not set us free it merely illuminated a path toward a more equitable future. Despotism never rests, never tires and will never submit. We can not win but we can fight. There is a wall in the National Museum of the USAF – Dayton, of the aviators who earned the Medal of Honor. There is a better than 50% odds that the medal was given to a relative as the recipient was indisposed. Not one of these heroes fought for themselves. I celebrate the 4th loudly so that heaven will know that the fight continues.
    But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
    It wasn’t the end of the fight, just the beginning.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. With the recent SCOTUS rulings, it certainly doesn’t feel independence like or free for everyone. Regardless of these developments, hope you and your loved ones were still able to enjoy the holiday!

    Liked by 2 people

    • No, by my calculations (yes, I actually sat down with some statistics and did the math) fully 73% of the population have lost some of their rights due to Supreme Court decisions in the past 12 months, starting with Dobbs last year. 73% of the people have had a right taken from them!!! THAT is unconscionable!!! THAT is NOT democracy!!! Sigh. I cannot say that I have enjoyed it, for our apartment complex has been set on fire THREE TIMES tonight by people putting off fireworks carelessly. And right now, just after 1:00 a.m., the fireworks continue. My daughter, who has to get up at 5:00 a.m. for work, has not been able to get to sleep yet, our kitties are scared into hiding, and I am … furious! Sigh.

      Liked by 2 people

      • Sorry to hear that Jill. I’m not a big fan of fireworks either. I like when they are held by the city officials in a park so everyone enjoys them and it’s done. But people who do them in residential areas do them at the expense of others trying to sleep. We had the same issue. Haha. Hope your daughter is ok at work today!

        Liked by 1 person

        • Yes, I like viewable fireworks displays managed by trained, competent people, and ended at a reasonable time, but these were just the kind that make a huge BOOM over and over and over. The Fire Department was here at least 3 times that I know of, putting out fires, the last one at 2:30 a.m.! Poor Chris got to sleep sometime after 3:00 a.m., so I’m pretty sure she’s wiped out today. And worse yet, by law they can do this every night through Sunday! Sigh. But, at least that ‘holiday’ is over and most people will have to work the rest of the week! Have a great rest-of-the-week, Ab!

          Liked by 1 person

            • Exactly. Fire Department spent much of their night here putting out fires from carelessly handled fireworks, and tonight the police were called no less than three times due to a drunken brawl right next door, that ended in a gunshot. No sleep tonight, either, I guess. 😔

              Liked by 1 person

  6. Pingback: Not feeling it today | Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

    • My friend, no one is free. I often take to the woods to find some solace but even there I am aware that the burden I momentarily shed will have to be pick up again when I exit the woods.

      Liked by 1 person

      • I guess that depends on your definition of free, and there sre many of them. I sm free to live my life as I want to without society putting boundaries on what I do, think, or say — unless I decide or choose to limit myself. I will not swear in front of people I care about whom I know are offended by swear words because I don’t want to make them feel bad unnecessessarily, but I don’t give a shit who I swear in front of if I have no people I care about offending around. Thatbwas the first exsmple that same to mind. But will I go out and shoot somebody, if I had access to a gun? Probably not, unless Donald Trump or Vlad Putin showed his ugly face sround me, because killing either ofbthem would be a favour to the world. The thing is, I am not afraid to break a human law, but I will not break my internal rules –and taking life intentionally is not an accrptable act.
        So when you say you are not free, ehst id it that makes you feel so constricted? The government? The law? Or just you?

        Liked by 2 people

        • I chose. I decided to take a wife, have children and own property. If responsibility is anathema to freedom (it is not) then I am not free. No one denied me, told me what to do or how to do it. I choose. If one chooses to be a freerider it is a valid choice, which is a class of people I hold in distain.

          Liked by 1 person

          • And what is a freerider? Are they all the same? Or do some have different reasons for not being able to go after the same goals as you chose to pursue? Your comment is very generallized. Are there not “freeriders” who did not choose to be thus?
            As a retired social worker, amongst other things, I saw a lot of different people in a lot of different socio-economic situations. I can think of very few, if any, who chose to be in those situations.

            Liked by 3 people

        • Sorry I failed to answer. I am free to choose but I have a sense of right and wrong so I constrain myself from wanton murder and gratuitos harm. So just me.

          Liked by 1 person

          • Next question: how do you define right and wrong? I define right as doing no “intentional” harm. I try not to define wrong until I know all the factors contributing to an action. If a person fails to act in a particular situation, can that be defined as wrong. Why or why not?

            Liked by 1 person

            • I can’t for you. If I did you would not be free.
              I was born a liar and a thief. I justify those circumstances by rationalizing that the eighth commandment only forbids lies that bear false witness and the only man other than Jesus known to dwell in Paradise was a thief on this earth.
              Texas executed an innocent man for the murder of his two children. He failed to rescue them in a fire from which he saved himself. He did not object as he thought saving himself was wrong. Not my call.

              Liked by 1 person

              • My parents taught my whole family to lie, they never believed the truth. There was a time I had to steal to survive. I need no justification. I did what I had to do. When I didn’t have to steal to survive , I stopped.
                Texas is a very backward place, and getting more backward every day. It does ot surprise me what they did. What were your thoughts on that?

                Liked by 2 people

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