I've been struggling to find words to describe how I feel about this particular anniversary of US independence. It's difficult to celebrate when dependence - on Big Government and the Nanny State - seems to be the order of the day! I suspect our Founding Fathers would be doing, rather than saying, something about that, just as they did in the late eighteenth century. As others have pointed out (I think accurately):
We're in the middle of a sustained, deliberate attempt to eradicate America as it was intended to be by our Founding Fathers. As Tom Blumer observed, it's 'Cloward-Piven everywhere'. A number of bloggers have spoken today about what that means. Among the better efforts:
- Karl Denninger wishes us a 'Happy Dependence Day'.
- Wirecutter is very sad that 'The Fourth is nothing but a reminder of what a mess our Nation has become'.
- CenTexTim reminds us that 'Now it is time once again to stand up and proclaim our independence from a government that presumes to know better than we what is best for us'.
- Roger L. Simon points out that 'America is at a crossroads — we always seem to be, but this time we really are'.
Some of those sentiments may seem depressing, but they're an accurate description of what we face right now - and what we need to do about it. Independence isn't a political condition, or a social construct - it's a way of life. Do we want to live it, or let it die? It's in our hands.
A correspondent, S. K., sent me the link to this classic Pink Floyd song. David Gilmour performs it here at Gdansk in Poland at a celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Solidarity, but it resonates to our present condition as well.
Let us all resolve to 'hold fast that which we have', and ensure that those trying to despoil all that this nation was founded to be shall never take it from us.
Peter
2 comments:
I think feeling bad about what America has become on Independence day is kind of dumb.
Where I live, actual fireworks larger than bottle rockets and fire crackers, are illegal, you need a permit to own them, to fire them, and a bunch of safety stuff too.
Yet today, like every other Fourth of July, if you drive around you will see literally dozens, if not hundreds, of individual, private, fireworks shows. The cops don't even try and shut them down.
A lot of people might be dependent on the government, but as many, if not more, still thumb their nose at a controlling local government ordinance. And they do it en masse, and completely out in the open.
David - while in some ways that is good, when people thumb their noses at the small tyrannies, it can lead to a much wider-spread and more generalized contempt for the law. Which leads to pols writing more laws to fix the "problem," and more defiance, which leads to corruption of the police, politicians, and business community as the only way to "legally" do business is to stroke the right egos with payoffs, bribes, "campaign donations," etc.
Yes, it's good to see people acting freely. But the other side of the coin isn't so pretty.
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