Our Independence

As today is our commemoration of Independence, that is, independent of the throws of England. This is a time for both celebration and reflection. There is great irony in our domestic celebration, as we, the people who inhabited this land far later than the native Americans had initially, stole it from them. We raped and pillaged, moved many against their will, and destroyed their homes and lives. These indigenous peoples are now secluded to specific areas of the country, where poverty is the new villain and gambling is their seeming salvation.

I have no intent to defame our great nation. Many worldly nations have thrived off the deterioration of another (and usually the other being the original inhabitants, like the Canaanites). There is however a need to discuss the past as a whole, not in parts, in order to tell the complete truth. Only then may we truly celebrate with both pride and passion. This is no history lesson, merely the meandering prose of an individual who relates to alienation.

In the end we must all learn to except one another. To ask that we embrace everybody that is wholly different from ourselves is far too reaching. Excepting is the first step, and that step is far from many currently residing all over the world. If history has taught us anything it is that events repeat themselves, yet manifest in differing circumstances according to changing times. We can take from past experiences and Learn from them, or ignore them. The ladder will always come back to haunt.

So, beer and fireworks abound. Lets simply not forget the reason we are here, and the people who were here before us.


Michael