Another July 4th come and gone.

I'm not the biggest proponent of representative government. i don't think my government represents me very well at all and I'm usually pretty disgruntled with politics and the way things work in any capitol.

I've probably seen more of this country than a lot of people. I've lived in or near several different cities, I've driven across the country twice, I've spent time in the smallest town and the largest metropolis. And the truth is that the fight over the idea of what America is, what being American means, and what freedom is all about - it exhausts me. I'm tired. I'm tired of hearing that people who take to the streets to express themselves, to differentiate their voices from that of the government, are unpatriotic. I'm tired of hearing that freedom is something that should be handed out by the government, that a legislative body should decide what is best for all of us. I'm tired of hearing that immigrants are a problem when we are all immigrants. I'm tired of how short our memory is and how passive our masses are.

I heard someone talking about what's gong on in Iran and he was saying "that is what democracy looks like. The ttragic thing is that in 2000 we sat on our couches and watched as our government was taken over by someone who probably hadn't won the election, the sad thing is that we don't demand for ourselves what we prescribe to others."

And that is the sad thing. Who was it that said freedom is a muscle, you have to exercise it or you'll lose it?

Mostly I just distance myself. I watch the Daily Show and even those short bits of news make me feel despair. I decided years ago that I couldn't give into the despair anymore, that fighting the good fight was killing me in small ways, and that i had to find something to live for instead of only having so many things to be against.

And so i grow food and I organize at my local farmers' market. I support the people in my life the best I can and hope I help to create a sense of community in their lives. I hope that it's enough.

I still secretly dream of a time when we will all understand freedom in ways that we don't right now. Sometimes when I think about my friends and family that have put their lives at risk to protect our freedom, it hurts my heart. How can we keep putting their lives on the line for something we don't even bother to appreciate but once a year?

Maybe I'm cynical when it comes to this stuff.

People talk about moderation but moderates never really got us anything. Give me a visionary any day, someone who sees what we can become and doesn't wait around for it but brings it to light. Give me MLK Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, or a suffragette at the gate of the White House. Give me critical mass and resistance in all it's forms. Give me liberty or give me death.

I do like fireworks, though. Even though they simulate warfare, they do it with pretty colors and I'm a sucker for bright, shiny things.


WWII Memorial with Lincolm Memorial in the background.