Freedom
Today is our nation's birthday. The anniversary of the day 239 years ago when we declared our independence from a tyrannical ruler an ocean away from our land. Some may argue that we didn't actually win our freedom until the surrender of General Cornwallis in 1781 while others mark the signing of the Treaty of Paris as the point at which our freedom was secured. Over two centuries later, what did this victory gain us?
We are arguable the most powerful nation on the Earth. Vast natural resources, the ability to feed everyone on the planet if we choose to do so. We are free to speak, worship and assemble as we wish without fear of infringement of these rights by our government. We can travel within the 50 states without any limitations being placed upon our movements.
Yet as we gather on this holiday to celebrate our independence, our military and law enforcement forces are at a higher level of security against outside and internal threats than before our the day of our nation's birth. The financial system of our nation, indeed of the world, faces a serious threat of collapse from tomorrow's referendum vote in Greece.
The Republican majority in Congress continues to try to overturn the Affordable Care Act while more than 10% of our population remains without healthcare. Nearly 1% of our adult population is not free today as they are locked in one of the countless prison facilities that dot our landscape. Our prison population is the highest in the world. Our current and former college students struggle under the heavy burden of more than $1 trillion in student loan debt; many of them working at jobs that do not pay nearly enough to allow them to repay these loans. CNN just reported that one in every five children in the United States is dependent upon the food stamp program to be fed. The exact number of people in our nation who will bed down tonight at something other than a permanent home address because they are homeless is in the hundreds of thousands. Many of these are veterans who sacrificed much for our country and were subsequently kicked to the curb when they could no longer serve.
It is outrageous that tonight, in a land where there are trillions upon trillions of dollars in wealth, people will go hungry, sleep under freeway overpasses or in public parks, or worse. That millions of crimes will be committed this month to fund addictions because we refuse to provide adequate resources to aid these victims. It is criminal that we watch this nation's wealth more and more concentrated among a tiny few who care nothing about providing opportunity for those who enrich them to be provided with a decent standard of living.
Are we really free? You tell me.
We are arguable the most powerful nation on the Earth. Vast natural resources, the ability to feed everyone on the planet if we choose to do so. We are free to speak, worship and assemble as we wish without fear of infringement of these rights by our government. We can travel within the 50 states without any limitations being placed upon our movements.
Yet as we gather on this holiday to celebrate our independence, our military and law enforcement forces are at a higher level of security against outside and internal threats than before our the day of our nation's birth. The financial system of our nation, indeed of the world, faces a serious threat of collapse from tomorrow's referendum vote in Greece.
The Republican majority in Congress continues to try to overturn the Affordable Care Act while more than 10% of our population remains without healthcare. Nearly 1% of our adult population is not free today as they are locked in one of the countless prison facilities that dot our landscape. Our prison population is the highest in the world. Our current and former college students struggle under the heavy burden of more than $1 trillion in student loan debt; many of them working at jobs that do not pay nearly enough to allow them to repay these loans. CNN just reported that one in every five children in the United States is dependent upon the food stamp program to be fed. The exact number of people in our nation who will bed down tonight at something other than a permanent home address because they are homeless is in the hundreds of thousands. Many of these are veterans who sacrificed much for our country and were subsequently kicked to the curb when they could no longer serve.
It is outrageous that tonight, in a land where there are trillions upon trillions of dollars in wealth, people will go hungry, sleep under freeway overpasses or in public parks, or worse. That millions of crimes will be committed this month to fund addictions because we refuse to provide adequate resources to aid these victims. It is criminal that we watch this nation's wealth more and more concentrated among a tiny few who care nothing about providing opportunity for those who enrich them to be provided with a decent standard of living.
Are we really free? You tell me.
posted by me at 2:15 PM
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