The fourth of July; freedom, independence, a day off, fireworks and a good time. The fourth of July is our statement to the world and to ourselves that we are free. Free from the tyranny of a King who took away all of our basic human liberties. Red white and blue, these colors never run, freedom isn’t free, and a million other T-shirt sages have impressed upon us over the years that these freedoms are something we should fight for, cherish, and maintain at all costs.
Should we fear terrorists, or North Korea, or some other shady organization that “hates us for our freedom?” Seems to me that the biggest threat to our freedom is our own apathy. Maybe because it wont fit on a bumper sticker, but there is more about maintaining liberty than blowing up terrorist training camps, and imposing economic sanctions on rogue states. Freedom is a living thing. It breaths and changes and needs to be cared for. Like all living things, if deprived of its food it will die. The food that powers liberty is ironically thought, and rebellion.
We thought we were getting a bad deal from King George, and we rebelled. A lot of people thought that black people should have the same rights as whites, so they rebelled (peacefully in most cases). Thought and rebellion keep a free democracy from becoming a dictatorship. I see a dangerous trend, a trend of apathy, of non-action, of thoughtlessness, of bumper sticker ideology, of sheep like acceptance of the status quo.