Happy Independence Day, one and all. Yeah, I know. “Independent of what?” you might ask. King George was a pussycat compared with today’s rulers.
But we can still celebrate the ideal if not a national reality. And for sure, for always, we can celebrate our own inner independence.
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This is going to be short. I have just one thing to say. And while I’d like to put it in rhyme and make it an anthem, time and lack of talent demand prose:
Don’t fall with the empire.
People tell us that declaring (or going off and living) individual freedom in an unfree time is nihilistic. They call it giving up. They say we haven’t tried everything. They say it’s no solution to tyranny, but a surrender. They cry that we must join some Effort, get behind some Cause. And sometimes we do.
But these days, the number one job for We the Free is to create while the empire crumbles. Our job is to live in a way that builds a new reality in the ruins of the old.
So don’t fall with the empire. But stand.
Living free is how we learn to stand. How we practice the skills to stand even against great odds.
Nihilists? Not us. Not by a long shot. We’re realistic. But we’re not mere realists, either. People who live free carry, preserve, and restore the greatest ideal humans ever dreamed.
Tonight when you watch the fireworks or set off your own, know that all that glory is yours. It’s not for the followers, the obedient, or the unquestioning. It’s not for the would-be masters with their rules, their spies, their perpetual wars. It’s not for the ones who choose the safest, easiest course. It’s for you if you love freedom, understand freedom, know where it comes from, know what it takes to keep it — and are willing to do what it takes.
So don’t fall with the empire no matter how discouraged you get. Because as long as freedom lovers stand, long after the empire grinds itself and most of its subjects to dust, what you love will still be here. Because you carried it into the future.
“Tonight when you watch the fireworks or set off your own, know that all that glory is yours. It’s not for the followers, the obedient, or the unquestioning. It’s not for the would-be masters with their rules, their spies, their perpetual wars. It’s not for the ones who choose the safest, easiest course. It’s for you if you love freedom, understand freedom, know where it comes from, know what it takes to keep it — and are willing to do what it takes.”
Thanks – I needed that. I got up this am thinking I’ve got to listen to those celebrations tonight, and all for what? Now I know – it’s for me, and all of you out there.
They can celebrate the 4th of July if they want – I’ll celebrate Independence Day! And I feel better already; I think you headed off a ‘down’ day.
Wear Black on Independence Day
Black is the color of mourning. We gather to mourn the death of Peace and Liberty while those who murdered them dress up the corpses in bright colors and parade them across the nation. Wear black to protest the Pavlovian patriotism of Independence Day. Red, White, and Blue are now the colors of global war and domestic tyranny. If you prefer the illusion of security and freedom over the exhilaration of true liberty, may your chains rest lightly upon you.
Please feel free to invite your friends to this wake, especially if these statements might make them think. The trolls on this page are evidence that we are saying something worthwhile enough for them to want it silenced.
Just for clarification, this isn’t a request that you wear an all-black costume of some sort. Steer clear of red, white, and blue. Wear a black T-shirt, or a black armband. Do not take your hat off, or otherwise salute any banners. This is just about peaceful civil disobedience and making an effort to stand out from the crowd of “good citizens” blindly supporting evil. Some who have joined this event are anarchists of one sort or another. Some others are libertarians, Democrats, Republicans, Communists, Socialists, and followers of other political philosophies, too. It is not my intention for black to make a specific political statement, but it is your choice to do so if you wish.
http://www.facebook.com/events/230820603705354/
Thanks Claire we needed that! You have said it perfectly. I
am going to link you on my blog if you don’t mind.
Yours in Liberty,
Teresa Sue
That was beautiful, thanks Claire.
In Freedom,
Sagebrush
Thanks, Claire, and especially thanks for the link to the Albert Jay Nock essay. It’s worth re-reading regularly.
I have a hard time celebrating the birth of our republic so soon after its death. Our constitution has been hanging by a thread for many years now. The political appointees that call themselves “justices” have finally succeeded in severing that last thread. If we can now be penalized for not complying with what even those characters admit is a completely unconstitutional order, then the constitution is officially dead.
The American Republic: July 4, 1776 – June 28, 2012. RIP.
Bravo, Claire! Great essay.
July 4 is my Independence Day, regardless of how depraved the government has become.
>But these days, the number one job for We the Free is to create while the empire crumbles. Our job is to live in a way that builds a new reality in the ruins of the old.
For anyone who wants a good read on this theme, find a copy of Robert Ringer’s old book, “How You Can Find Happiness During the Collapse of Western Civilization” (1983). Like many “collapse” writers, he expected things to break down quicker, but except for timing, it’s a good book.
Same here, thanks so very much, Claire, for righting my sinking emotions…..and you are right, that’s how it should be tackled……
Very nicely put, Claire.
There’s more than one way to outlive the SOBs!
Hear, hear!
we do have the power to create – even under increasing restrictions, burdens, and limitations – and that’s how we make sure the ideas, concerns and knowledge of the founders continues. That’s just a fight of another kind, the weapons are different. Think Ben Franklin, Poor Richard, and Patrick Henry.
Here’s something that’s teaching dogs to be liars.
http://privateofficernews.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/nevada-highway-patrol-troopers-sue-over-bogus-k-9-program-www-privateofficer-com/
The only surprising thing is that it’s the cops themselves that’s bringing it out into the public.
I’m not really all that sad or down. Maybe it’s my Aspie personality, but it seems to me they are doomed, not us. Would’ve posted earlier but thought someone else would. I suggest reading it all.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-socialization-america-economically-impossible
“We-have-no-money. Therefore, the debate over universal socialized medicine is pointless. It is mathematically and economically impossible to implement. What the Supreme Court says on the subject of socialization certainly matters in terms of principle, and they have failed Americans spectacularly in that respect (or served their globalist sugar-daddies well; however you want to look at it). But, in terms of finance, the Supreme Court’s shocking decision means nothing.”
“….But, in terms of finance, the Supreme Court’s shocking decision means nothing.” ”
Well, I certainly understand what the author is saying, and theoretically he is right. But there’s more to finance than theory.
A view of reality: tyranny will abound beyond decency, inflation will continue recklessly, more laws will be passed which make life hellacious on a daily basis and will not be reversed in the foreseeable future, Americans will continue to lose their shirts (also their jobs, their homes, their legal rights, and their freedom) at an alarming rate – and during that time many thousands will die intestate in the SPIRITUAL sense of the word, “without a will” and terribly disillusioned, while the socialist leaders play around with theories.
The author talks of the leaders’ actions, while blaming the “country” and the “people” for those actions. I disagree. Yes, we have stupid people who live on credit, who want every new materialistic thing at any cost (to themselves or the country). Yes, we have sheep who follow anywhere without question, people who don’t want to find rational answers to problems (or who never learned how). But they’ve been taught that through the schools and the political rhetoric of at least 100 years and many wars. This country *hasn’t been allowed to stop and think* since the Federal Reserve Act, followed by WWI. There’s a method to the leaders’ madness – in that the author is correct. But we shouldn’t blame the “country” for that.