The fourth of July; freedom, independence, a day off, fireworks and a good time. The fourth of July is our statement to the world and to ourselves that we are free. Free from the tyranny of a King who took away all of our basic human liberties. Red white and blue, these colors never run, freedom isn’t free, and a million other T-shirt sages have impressed upon us over the years that these freedoms are something we should fight for, cherish, and maintain at all costs.

Should we fear terrorists, or North Korea, or some other shady organization that “hates us for our freedom?” Seems to me that the biggest threat to our freedom is our own apathy. Maybe because it wont fit on a bumper sticker, but there is more about maintaining liberty than blowing up terrorist training camps, and imposing economic sanctions on rogue states. Freedom is a living thing. It breaths and changes and needs to be cared for. Like all living things, if deprived of its food it will die. The food that powers liberty is ironically thought, and rebellion.

We thought we were getting a bad deal from King George, and we rebelled. A lot of people thought that black people should have the same rights as whites, so they rebelled (peacefully in most cases). Thought and rebellion keep a free democracy from becoming a dictatorship. I see a dangerous trend, a trend of apathy, of non-action, of thoughtlessness, of bumper sticker ideology, of sheep like acceptance of the status quo.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The opposite is just as true, something is broke, so we must fix it. Paris Hilton buys her way out of jail, something no poor person could ever hope to do. Scooter Libby takes the fall for a corrupt leader and gets away with it, again something no ordinary citizen could do. Dick Cheney says he isn’t a member of the legislative branch when the legislative branch wants to know about his dealings with his secret energy committee, then he isn’t a member of the executive branch when they want to know about his secret dealings with other things. Kafka’s birthday just passed, he would understand this sort of logic.

As trite as it sounds freedom is in fact not free, it comes with duties that every citizen that wishes to enjoy that freedom is expected to preform. You think your a patriot, you support the troops, you have the magnetic ribbon? When was the last time you contacted your senator and let them know how you felt about an issue? When was the last time you marched in a protest, how much do you know about current goings on in Washington, in your own state, in your own town? Do you read the news?

If you want to be a good citizen of this country, if you want to thump your chest and say proudly “I love America!” then you need to help weed the garden of freedom every once in a while. You need to be informed, you need to know what the government is doing (thought), and you need to act (rebel) when they act poorly. The governments job is not to watch itself, thats our job. We have been doing a pretty poor job the last couple of years. I see very few marches in the streets, I see no general strikes, I see no flooding of congress with letters, we have let the garden grow out of control, and its time for a severe invasive species removal campaign.

This fourth, as politicians spout platitudes about freedom, terrorism, and the like, remember the only one maintaining you freedom is you. Government would rather have you be a placid consumer that sits on the couch and absorbs the next episode of whatever, then goes to some big box and buys way more crap than you need, then put it all on a your credit card. These kind of people are easy to control. The government would rather you not be a politically active, well informed voting citizen who is not afraid to bother the people in power. These kind of people are free, and thus harder to control.

You might not see the shackles but they are there, your debt, TV, political double talk, blind patriotism, its all a symptom of your lack of freedom. As they say, if you are not pissed off you are not paying attention. This fourth of July, before you go to the party, or before you go see some fireworks, take the time to visit your congress person’s web page, and drop them an email. Let them know how you feel, good or bad, with what is going on in the world. Let them know you are watching them, let them know that they work FOR YOU and that you are checking in to see how they are doing. Let them know you will be basing you decision to vote for them on how they handle special interest lobby groups, and what they do about the war, or how they handle an issue important to you. Then let them know that if they don’t do what you want, you are going to fire them.

Happy fourth of July.