Nothing don’t mean nothing honey if it ain’t free…
I sit here on a day dedicated to “independence and freedom” and ponder the reality of real freedom. Do we honestly know what that is, or have we been lulled into thinking that since we have the latest iPhone and a pair of fancy designer jeans we must be free?
But there is no such thing as absolute freedom, and for good reason. If people were free to rape, murder, and pillage what kind of society would this be? So there have to be certain barriers to complete freedom to live in a civilized community that govern people’s actions. But where have these laws and regulations become more than that?
When did we allow for the need to establish rules for bad behavior into this death web of overreach and intrusion? At what point do we understand that we have enough laws and regulations on the books?
Think about it…..for the past two hundred thirty-seven years in this Country we have had a group of hundreds of lawmakers making laws and rules to be enforced. They have made one law after another stacking them on top of each other. Rarely is a law repealed. Just more laws added. Now add to that each of the 50 states with their own group of hundreds of lawmakers who spend every year making more an more laws. Then there are local governments adding to the fun with their codes and regulations.
What you get is a pile of LIMITATION and CONFINEMENT……you know, the opposite of freedom.
So forgive me if I hum the land of the free and home of the brave part of the National Anthem these days. It is hard for me to it say out loud with a straight face, as our militarized police forces run roughshod over our communities enforcing bad laws put in place by ideological scumbags who are bought and paid for by big business lobbying groups.
Just look at the drug war. Millions of people imprisoned for crimes with no victims.
How can a country that claims to be the “home of the free” lock up 25% of the world’s prison population when they only have 5% of the world’s population? We imprison five times the amount of people as the rest of the world and we want to tout FREEDOM as one of our ideals and values? I am not feeling it.
Maybe at one time in the late 1700’s we were actually the home of the free (not really with slavery), but we have been taking away those freedoms for over 200 years now and what has resulted is the least free situation I can really think of.
We are not free because we say we are. it does not work like that. Freedom is a way of life. It is living without the fear of being persecuted and/or prosecuted for living your life and doing things that do not harm others.
The more I look around and realize that this freedom deal is a farce, the more I am driven to find real freedom or die. I will not sit down and shut up. I am not going away.
We got right-wing religious assholes passing laws to limit women’s reproductive rights. Lawmakers working to deport all “illegal imigrants” and wall us in. We have those who would choose to tell gay people their love is not real or worthy of the term “marriage.” Politicians are working to undermine social safety nets that protect the most vulnerable by cutting food stamps and health care benefits for those in the struggle. They are passing laws to ensure workers cannot collectively bargain for better wages. They have voted thirty-eight times to repeal a law that ensures people have the freedom of health care. Free speech is dwindling, as they pass laws to shut down Internet and media freedoms. We do not even let a terminally ill person have the right to die if they want to.
So forgive me if I call BULLSHIT on your claim of “freedom.” This is not the land of the free. It is the land of the making you think you are free while we take away all of your rights and imprison your neighbors. It is a racket. But do not worry….we will make a YouTube video of cats playing the piano to distract you from the tyranny.
So as you wander around today watching some fireworks show that was likely limited due to budget cuts because we spent all of our money taking away freedom and attacking other countries, just remember we had this little talk. Feel free to celebrate your pride in America, but then work to make America that idealistic bullshit when it is said and done.
If we do not stand up and demand our freedoms be restored, they never will be. It is that simple.
These assholes will continue to make law after law that makes it illegal for you to live, and they will continue to lock up good people at alarming rates for shit that is not even a crime. If you want to continue to tout “freedom” as a value of this country and its people then it is high time we began to end the policies that have resulted with us being the largest jailers of humans on the planet.
Until then we are basically the “land of the prison industrial complex and the home of the grave.” Enjoy your hot dogs.
