Will Smith Saves The World Again
C.D. Allen
cdavidallen(at)gmail.com
A very wise and very American man once said, “Freedom is free of the need to be free.”
This year, today, is the 231st anniversary of America’s independence from Great Britain. This is the day that over two centuries ago the founders of this country signed the Declaration of Independence. They decided they would be better off, on their new continent, governing themselves.
There are a lot of traditions associated with Independence Day. There’s fireworks, cookouts, baseball games, parades and (my personal favorite) getting time off from work. In some circles, mostly in schools around this time of year, there is a history lesson about what it means to be American. Unlike Christmas however, there is no call to remember “the reason for the season”.
So, what does it mean to be an American? We are “the land of the free and the home of the brave” but what does that really say? I don’t know if I can actually answer either of these questions. The beauty of the situation and the system is that being American can mean basically whatever you want it to mean. Don’t ever let anyone tell you differently.
The American way of life (unlike, say, the Nazi or Turkmen way of life) is not about being the best American you can be. But it does leave everyone room to pursue that course if they desire. Like capitalism anyone can get as much or as little out of America as they are willing to both give and take. Being American means you can follow whatever tradition you feel like following or none at all if that’s what does it for you.
Make no mistake though. We are not the land of the free. An actual “land of the free” would have no rules and it’s denizens would be obligated only to themselves. That’s not the case here. The case here is you’re only obligated to whomever you feel like being obligated to.
Freedom itself is just an abstract idea that nothing is holding you back or preventing you from acting on your own. I’m going to talk more about abstracts next week but for now it’s enough to understand that freedom is not a solid entity. You cannot point at it or even someone experiencing it and say “That is freedom”. Or, more importantly, you can but not everyone will agree with you. Freedom at it’s essence is the idea that being free is something important and should be strived for. Since it’s not an actual thing it makes more sense to think of it as the pursuit of the thing.
And that’s the beauty of America and being American. It’s not that we’re necessarily better or “freer” than other citizens of other countries. It’s that we’re not required by state mandate to uphold some ideal model of citizenship. This is because the American ideal is that the personal ideal is more important.
This 4th of July ask yourself: What would I do with myself if I wasn’t able to do what I want with myself?
July 4th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Little-known totally made-up fact about Independence Day: the Founding Fathers already had an “idea web” (you know, the brainstorming “tree”) ready in December 1775, and Jefferson had written a pretty solid draft of the Declaration by February, but Josiah Bartlett was such a freak for barbecue that they decided to put off giving it to the Continental Congress until The Weather Got Nice Again.
*NOW YOU KNOW*
July 10th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
what would i do with myself if i couldn’t do what i wanted, you ask.
simple.
i’d do what i was asked. grumble, complain, but forge ahead because, if you don’t have a choice, you don’t know about having a choice. you can complain, but worlds of complaining wouldn’t change anything. so, eventually, you’d stop.
now, people say, “oh, i hate my job,” knowing fair well that they can get another job as easily as the first. the only thing preventing them is a gap in a resume, a lack of a degree or experience. people complain, but, even with so many options, people don’t change anything.
if you didn’t have options, didn’t have a choice, life would be so much simpler.
i’m not saying i don’t support capitalism because i do. communism or socialism isn’t exactly my ideal society, but sometimes i think life would be easier if we were never given options, just rules handed down by dictators.