{"id":10581,"date":"2012-07-04T02:34:41","date_gmt":"2012-07-04T09:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/ClaireWolfe\/?p=10581"},"modified":"2012-07-04T02:34:41","modified_gmt":"2012-07-04T09:34:41","slug":"dont-fall-with-the-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/04\/dont-fall-with-the-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t fall with the empire"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

But we can still celebrate the ideal if not a national reality. And for sure, for always, we can celebrate our own inner independence. <\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

Don’t fall with the empire.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But these days, the number one job for We the Free<\/a> 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. <\/p>\n

So don’t fall with the empire. But stand.<\/p>\n

Living free is how we learn to stand. How we practice the skills to stand even against great odds.<\/p>\n

Nihilists? Not us. Not by a long shot. We’re realistic. But we’re not mere<\/i> realists, either. People who live free carry, preserve, and restore the greatest ideal humans ever dreamed. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. —– 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…<\/p>\n

Continue readingDon’t fall with the empire<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mind-and-spirit","category-resistance","ratio-natural","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}