As you probably are aware, this Saturday is July 4th, IndependenceDay. As you may also know, on the afternoon of this July 4th, I'llbe one of four speakers at Independence Mall, in downtownPhiladelphia, at the "Tea Party" event there. My topic will be"You're Not the Boss of Me!" and this article is a sort ofintroduction to that rant.The Declaration of Independence basically amounted to a bunch ofguys telling their king, "You're not the boss of us anymore." TheDeclaration was an act of treason, written by a bunch of tax cheatsand lawbreakers. It wasn't merely some people whining orpetitioning the government to do something different. In fact, theDeclaration describes how they had already tried that, and ithadn't worked. So they resorted to open disobedience. And it wasn'tjust one protest or demonstration, to make a point or try toconvince their masters to change; it was a declaration that theywere completely and permanently denying the right of the standingregime to rule them at all, ever again. And that's a pretty darnradical thing to do.For all the parades, fireworks, picnics, and other events whichwill happen on July 4th to celebrate "Independence Day," how manyAmericans today do you think are capable of even contemplating thepossibility of engaging in "illegal" resistance against"authority"? Not many.What would the equivalent of the Declaration of Independence looklike today? Well, we would have a lot MORE to complain about thanthe colonists did, with far higher taxes, far more intrusiveregulation, and a much higher level of oppression all around. Butwhat would the conclusion be? It wouldn't be, "So you better changethose laws!" It would be more like this:"Dear Federal Government, you're fired! We're not paying your taxesanymore, not obeying your laws ever again, and from now on we willresist your thugs when you try to enforce your will on us."How many Americans would dare to even THINK such a thing, much lesssay it out loud, or write it down and send it to the feds? Veryfew, indeed. The truth is, the spirit of resistance is all but deadin this country. Even among those in the pro-freedom movement, thevast majority of efforts revolve around begging the masters to benice, petitioning for or against this or that legislation, arguingover WHICH politician should run our lives and take our money."Write your congressman and tell him to oppose ... ""Promise to vote against any candidate who doesn't support ... ""Sign this petition, to push legislation which will ... "I have a better idea. How about if a few million of us send onemessage--and only one message--to those pretending to be our"representatives," those who claim to have the right to rule us.That message should be this: "Legislate whatever you want; I willnot obey. And when you send your thugs to punish me, I willresist." THAT is the message of the Declaration of Independence.But on this July 4th, how many Americans do you think would evendare to THINK such a thing--even quietly and to themselves?What this country needs is not a change in legislation, or a changeof parties or candidates. It doesn't need another election, oranother protest or demonstration, or another group lobbying thegovernment for this or that. What it needs is a people with afundamentally different mindset. What it needs is a populationcapable of saying, "You're not the boss of us!" But NOTHING thepeople ever hear from the mainstream media, or from those ingovernment, or from the talking heads and political pundits, willever endorse such an attitude. On the contrary, the only messageyou'll ever hear in the papers, on the radio or on the TV, fromacademia or from the government, will boil down to this: "You canwhine and complain about what the government is doing to you, andyou can beg your masters to change, but you must never disobey!"As long as obedience to authority is taught as the highestprinciple--and it absolutely is almost everywhere in the country--this will be a nation of pathetic slaves perpetually yetfruitlessly whining at their sadistic, power-happy masters. Maybethis country should be something better than that.If you're one of the few who would like to hear a drasticallydifferent message--one that is NOT premised on the assumption thatwe all have an obligation to bow to those who claim to be ourmasters--then be at Fifth and Market in downtown Philadelphia onthe afternoon of July 4th. (The talks start at 3:00, and my rantmight be first, so make sure you're there before that.) And whileyou're at it, bring along some obedient, unthinking flag-wavers, tosee if they can handle some REAL advocacy of freedom. Let's see howthey respond when their indoctrination as obedient subjectscollides with the concept of true liberty.Or, if you can't make it to Philly on the Fourth (or even if youcan), order a few copies of "The Iron Web," and start "corrupting"the people you know by exposing them to the radical idea that theyown themselves, and that they don't NEED the permission of tyrantsin order to be free. Yes, understanding freedom requires a dramaticshift in mindset from the statist conformism that now plagues thiscountry. On the other hand, it's getting downright embarrassingwatching all the robbed, regulated and restricted American slaveswildly cheering about how free they are.Larken Rose(P.S. The event in Philly will be videotaped, and I'm sure it willbe posted online fairly quickly. I'll at least be posting my ranton my YouTube channel very soon after.)