Freedom
Photo by Michael Barone
I thought this photo was really fitting for today, and not just because of the flag in it.
We celebrate our independence today. Our freedom. All that jazz.
Yet I wonder…how much freedom do we really have? Speak too loudly, and get thrown in jail, interrogated, or at least put on “the list.” Put your actions where your mouth is, and you’re even in more trouble. Queer people can’t be out in the military, women can’t make 100% of their choices concerning their body, men must register for selective service when they turn 18. Your phones can be tapped, your records can be gathered, and your home invaded.
Your vote counts. Unless…there are hanging chads, provisional ballots, road blocks in the way to your polling station, or electoral votes outweighing the popular vote.
How much freedom do we have? And when we celebrate our independence, how come we don’t think about the independence and freedom we have taken from so many, both within our borders, and in other countries.
I like the US. It’s a good mix of people; lots of diversity. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to college, to travel around the country, to learn and see and hear and experience.
But sometimes, I also hate it. I hate the hate, the mistrust, the fear, the anger, the blaming.
So as you celebrate our independence, think on how free we REALLY are, and what that freedom has cost us and other over the past few centuries.
Now go drink, go swimming (not in that order), and watch fireworks.
Happy 4th of July!
-Essin’ Em
3 Comments so far
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Happy independence Day everyone. While I could not agree more that our freedoms are threatened, and in fact abridged in various ways, I am still enormously thankful to be living in a country with the freedoms we do have.Freedom, while absolute, is also relative. All one needs to do is look at some countries like Iran and China to understand that while we must NEVER ever give up the fight for our freedoms, that there are billions of people who have far less freedom than ourselves. This is NOT to say the United States has reached a state of perfection, nor is it to say we as a nation do not transgress, but is to say that doing all we can to preserve and extend our freedoms is not mutually exclusive with being thankful for the vast freedoms we do have.I guess as the child of a concentration camp survivor and someone who had most of his family murdered Ijust have a slightly different perspective. I will end with some quotes from that ol’ fun loving guy Benjamin Franklin -
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement,
achievement and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Ben Franklin
I’m so happy about how happy you are in CO! :)! Hope things come together quickly! And Clea Duvall is my other girlfriend!
Hah! I love that picture! Hot and political-messagey….