Frederick Douglass, the most influential African American of the 19th century, was asked to speak in New York and deliver an address regarding Independence Day in 1852. His speech is long, eloquent, but reminds his listeners that there is not freedom and independence for his own race, and, indeed, slavery lasted another 13 years after his speech. We throw the word "freedom" around way too much today. Freedom is becoming a precious and precarious concept in the 21st century.
If you read the ENTIRE Declaration of Independence numerous times and study it, you cannot help but see the irony of how far off base we are from what is set forth in that extensive document. The current Patriot Act is a direct violation of what the declaration sets forth when it declared war on Great Britian and declared that it would separate itself from a ruler when the founding fathers truly believed that man could govern himself and did not need a King. Checks and balances were put into place. The framers of the declaration - many of whom also wrote the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, looked for less government and more independent freedoms for the citizens.
Today, we are not a government by the people and for the people, but a people being dictated to as to how to live our personal lives as well as our civic lives. Our tax system is unfair, our justice system is completely out of wack, our healthcare compared to other industrial nations is inferior, and we are the only industrial and technological country without national healthcare - given to all people and free. Worldwide we have the reputation of the school bully. I find this very disheartening.
America, for all its shameful past of the slaughter of the Native American population, and the horrific institution of slavery that lasted over 200 years here, somehow became the most wonderful country in the world. We helped, and still help so many other countries. We give and give and give. At the same time, we have been at war almost non-stop since Columbus landed in the West Indies. We are a warring country and always have been and maybe that's just what it takes to become a super power. But at some point, enough is enough.
The war in Iraq was supposed to last about 3 months. Now, as we go into our 5th year at war, there seems to be no end in sight. It is looking like another Korean or Vietnam war - those wars we simply cannot win. Will we stay in it for 20 years and have the casualties we did in Vietnam?
We have a statue that invites everyone "yearning to be free" called the Statue of Liberty, yet we are building a wall to keep Mexicans out. We need to make up our mind. We are a country built by and for immigrants. We need to take down the Statue of Liberty or change the wording, or we need to solve the immigration problem and debate. We cannot have our cake and eat it, too. Eventually someone strikes back, and unfortunately, that has happened to us. I fear it will get worse as we continue to alienate more and more countries each passing year.
It seems wrong to celebrate the 4th of July when we are celebrating a document that we have defied and denied as badly as we have already. And I am afraid it is going to get worse before it gets better.
