Independence from what?

"The strength of our great country lies in its Constitution and her laws and in her courts. But more fundamentally, the strength of our great country lies in the resolve of her citizens to stand up for what is right when the masses are silent. And, unfortunately, sometimes it becomes the lot of the few to stand up for what is right when the masses are silent, because not always does the law move so fast and so judiciously as to always be right." - Judge Hamilton of the District Court for the District of Columbia.

Today, as we celebrate independence from monarchy and supposed tyranny, we must remember the step that was taken those centuries ago. We must remember, that our nation was born out of war, genocide, thievery, and general deceit. And yet, out of that came a dream of a nation that could get beyond the traps that humanity seemed unable to avoid, a dream of a nation that would truly work towards freedom, democracy, equality and the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And so the nation has had numerous missteps, too numerous to count, along that path. Although the journey was agonizingly slow, progress was slowly made. Unfortunately there was still a long, long way to travel. Racism still reared its ugly head, indigenous peoples still struggled to maintain, poverty was still widespread, children still went hungry and without medicine...but all the while, there was an undercurrent of hope. A hope that someday, together, we would manage to live up to that grand declaration made some two centuries earlier...that together, we could form a government and society that looked after its people, that sought to better the lot of all, that worked to guarantee life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to all peoples, regardless of color, class or creed.

Unfortunately, that path seems to have ended, and we are now reverting back to times and mentalities long thought buried in the annals of history's ugliness. We now have a society and a government that works not for the betterment of the people, but for the betterment of the bottom line. That takes action not based on wether it will better the lot of suffering fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, but whether it will better the profit margin. We have a political system, set up to be a voice for the masses, becoming a voice for the payers, a system where the positive attributes of a candidate are not measured by their ideas, concerns, and geniuneness, but by their ability to raise funds from giant corporations. A system that will turn a blind eye to blatant violations of the most basic rights of humans if it means Big Corporation can boost stock prices a little further. A system with such frighteningly perverted priorities that an average teacher cannot support a family on their salary, yet seven digit bonuses are handed out to people who execute trades for speculators. A system that spends more on death and destruction than on education, health and general welfare.

And while all this happens we sit back in our chairs and lament the process and wonder aloud why we seem so powerless to stop it. We've tried to speak with our votes, we've tried to speak by withholding our votes. We've tried to be heard through bullhorns, letters, and quiet acts of disobedience. We've tried to gather and let our extreme distaste be known. And we've all but given up hope, left with a feeling of dispair as the blissfully ignorant celebrate what never was while what little hope of it ever being ever more slips from our grasp.

But at a time like this, it is ever the more important to continue on. As Doris Hannock, better known to her loving followers as Granny D, so eloquently instructed us...

"There are two things I would like you to understand about impossible missions. One is the fact that, sometimes all you can do is put your body in front of a problem and stand there as witness to it...You have already succeeded if you're out there representing truth or justice or compassion or fairness or love. You already have your victory because you have changed the world; you have changed the status quo by you; you have changed the chemistry of things and changes will spread from you, will be easier to happen again in others because of you, because, believe it or not, you are the center of the world...The second thing is this, there are no impossible causes on this earth if they are good causes."

and we're half awake in a fake empire...