Happy Farce of July

For this year’s 4th of July celebration I’d like to steer clear of all the typical jingoistic professions for love of country like waving the flag, going to the ballpark, singing the national anthem and eating apple pie among other hollow overtures. Instead I want to draw upon one of the true pillars of patriotic expression of an authentically democratic society: the art of dissent.

You see, contrary to some popular misperceptions regularly questioning your government and it’s policies is not only patriotic in of itself, it is also a very healthy and necessary component in the social fabric of our society to best maintain our civil liberties of which we value so much. And yet all too often we take these rights for granted, assuming we will always have these privileges without any intrusion or encroachment by our government. The truth of the matter is that at any given moment they can be taken away from us. Which makes it so important that we resist giving them up at any cost, most especially under any pretext disguising itself as “extra security”.

The brilliance of the U.S. constitution isn’t just the inclusion of the Bill of Rights but lays in the fact that the original framers were very well aware of human nature and how easily power can be abused and corrupted, so they devised a system of government to be extremely difficult for one branch to dominate another (FYI, similar to ancient Greek & Roman democratic models) purposely arranging it so each is accountable to each other in the effort to prevent a totalitarian state developing. This is what is commonly referred to as Separation of Powers. Along with a free press, there is also a vital forth component to this system of “checks and balances” that we sometimes tend to overlook: you!

Yes, us, Jane & Joe citizen. Each and every one of us needs to be actively monitoring what is going on in our communities, states and country in order to best guard our rights. The government should fear us, not the other way around, and they do because they know that a well educated, cooperative and informed citizenry is a difficult one to manipulate, control and abuse. No matter what they claim during election year cycles the elites in this country do not care about you or me which makes it even more important for us to actively stand up for ourselves and force the government to bend to our will for the sake of the collective good.

Yet, if we dare speak up we’re supposedly “unpatriotic”? Since when is it “un-American” to speak out against the government?! It’s not, very far from it, but my, how the puppet-masters try to beguile us into believing a great big lie regarding active dissent. And the saddest part is… it’s working. And it will continue to work, so long as each and every one of us continues to passively do nothing about it, choosing to keep our mouths closed and not “rocking the boat” while they attempt to erode our our civil liberties even further while we turn a blind eye to it all. Even worse, when we actually start to believe that we as individuals have no power, no influence and no right to shape and steer our society in the manner in which we deserve to live, then at that point we are certain to lose everything.

So, as most of you all no doubt this holiday weekend lounge around enjoying your extra day off, attend that barbeque, cruise in your car, watch the fireworks, endure patriotic themes and hum along to the national anthem, just please bear in mind something along the way: what is actually worth celebrating if you choose to keep your mouth shut?

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