Delusional Freedom
One of the missions history is to serve as a memory of a people. If you had no memory of your past, you would be lost. Dr. Charles W. Simmons
OFTEN my heart weeps like the Prophet Jeremiah. The land that I know as home, the place I take pride in is a wicked place. They say that an environment molds a child, and in my maturity, I’ve noticed my environment has taught me only how to weep. This July 4th America will have been a nation for 247 years. Within that time frame we’ve dehumanized people based upon gender, ethnicity, and ideology. In a world full of color, the light we see only shines in black and white. These shades, which are not even colors at all, have darkened our hearts and frosted our conscious. Since our birth we’ve become the greatest military power that has ever existed in human history. America’s military has covertly submerged under water and conquered the omnipotent currents. Our submarine fleet is more intimidating than the napalm we dropped on the war-crime victims in Vietnam. We have the 82nd airborne fleet which can be anywhere in the world in 18 hours. Hiroshima and Nagasaki know all too well how death’s swiftness flows like a breeze and soaks like rain. These historical facts are interwoven in our culture, but we blindly celebrate the fruit while we ignore the labor that supplies our feast.
But, how American is it of us to forget? How American is it of us to ignore our guilt or the many ways we perpetuate plight and hate within our world? Americans have not evolved, but have always been anthropogenic and suicidal. I can go on about our imperialistic military presence in 80 countries worldwide. Or I can explain how America’s popularity makes her immune to the consequences of her fiendish behavior. But have you missed my point? We as Americans, have forgotten, rather, ignored our history. History is a weapon, but it seems that America’s weapon has rusted into uselessness. Or has July 4th become a cultural sabbath from our apathetic, capitalistic work?
“I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”
