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If you were looking for the blog, fear not- you've come to the right place. Kick off your shoes and stay awhile. :-)
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I am a mutt, no doubt. That is, I have ancestry among Italians, English, Scottish, Choctaw Indian, Cherokee Indian and who knows what else. I am an American mutt, born during the easy Seventies.
We, Three Dog Night, implore you: take it easy. Really, grab a cold one.
I grew up lucky enough to see the country's bicentenial:
Groovy
Patriotic
Jeff is cool, even numbers are fun... why not have a two dollar bill?
Keep on drumming in the free world.
It really was a pretty cool time. The country even tried to go metric... well, we tried.
I can't describe how 'united' the country felt, but I was little so that was just a youthful perception. I think this country has always had it's divisions and tensions, it's just easier not to notice when you're five and don't know much about the world.
Somewhere along the lines, though, I noticed. Maybe it was punk vs. new wave or Pepsi vs. Coke, but I saw divisions. The older I got, the more I saw. And then I noticed violent divisions; People spewing out absolute hate and vitriol against one another over things like skin color, political parties, economic classes and even shoe colors. It's weird.
So, today's the fourth. We celebrate our independence, but what are we really celebrating?
Some say we're celebrating our freedom- though really, was England all that bad? Did we get out of taxes when we split with them? Did we get to make laws everyone truly agrees with?
Some say it's about fighting for freedom- you know... 'freedom isn't free'. I was in the Army during the first Iraq conflict. I'm sure the government spent a lot of money on me, so, no, that kind of freedom wasn't free, though I can't say Saddam was suppressing my freedom.
Is it about fireworks? I know I love those.
What about the founding fathers? Well, see the above regarding taxes.
Here's what I think this freedom and independence stuff is all about...
Delacroix Leather designs bands for all kinds of people, though our designs are samples. The point of the bracelet is to put your design on it. Still, as I design representative samples I can't help notice how very different groups are. One minute I'm designing a very conservative, but beautiful religious band for a Christian group, the next I'm designing a hard rocking band for a death metal event. Bracelets aren't people, so they get along, though they might look completely crazy aside one another. And there it is.
Our country is this mix of things that look crazy aside from one another. The goal of this experiment we call American Democracy, is to keep aside one another peacefully and respectfully. We must find a place for all without the violence between.
As for freedom, we have to respect that too while keeping in mind that freedom can not exist without some level of responsibility. Feel free to shoot your guns on the range or protect yourself from a mountain lion, but don't point it at me. Feel free to rock out to your stereo, just not next to my house at 3AM. Feel free to do a cannonball into the pool, just not beside my little daughter during her swim lessons.
Freedom doesn't require a gun to enforce; it requires respect, restraint and consideration of those around us. I believe there is a place for all of us mutts- here, in America. Perhaps belief is the first requirement of democracy.
And, to lighten things up a little, here's a clip of my favorite speech on what it means to be an American as told by Bill Murray in the movie, Stripes:
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