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Pleading the 4th
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Posted by: laborat
Some things to think about while I call my travel agent and cancel my float trip down the Rio Grande:
The 4th of July is always a big deal here in St. Louis. Concerts on the riverfront with big names, Baseball, BEER, Brats and Burgers in the backyard BBQ, and LOTS of fireworks. (not to be outdone by the larger cities on the coast, we actually blow up fireworks factorys around here) Celebrating our Independence has always been a Major Party time. Bands march, Politicians give speeches, Independence Day is on Cable along with Im a Yankee Doodle Dandy and Disney's Channel forays into Revolutionary Pablum.
So what exactly is the Party about? For those of you who slept thru history, the RAT is gonna give a brief history lesson. Feel free to nod off on your keyboard. Though you may not have heard this in school. But first we have to define Freedom or in this case, Independence. We were a Colony of England. Colonies were territories discovered by European Explorers, who then tried to kill off or enslave the natives so they could harvest whatever cash crops they could convince the Europeans to buy. It wasn't that hard of a sell. Coffee, Rum, Sugar Cane, Spices.
The Americas or at least what eventually became the United States was no better off. In our case, the lower classes were criminals, (the Carolinas), Women, Indentured Servants, and Slaves imported from the Indies. We had an abundant supply of Fur, lumber, and Taxable Goods. Even better we were an emerging market for finished Goods the English could sell back to us. It was a deal only a Loan Shark could appreciate. England had first dibs on all our stuff, plus it taxed our stuff coming, and then sold it back to us at a higher price and taxed it again coming.
Some people in High places in the Americas and lots of people in low places started grumbling about being reemed by the English.
It didn't take long to figure out that there was more money in it for them if they could cut out the middle man. Even an idiot knows what came next. We got into a War with England, one of three, (well one was just a police action), and Won our Independence. Major Reason to Party. While George W. and the rabble was shooting up the British, Thom J. and Others were putting the new deal down on Paper.
The new deal was harder than anyone thought to pull off. First off several of the Folks at the Constitutional Con were suspicious of the lower classes. Thought they might eventually figure out they could take over the country. Now wait, you might say, what lower classes? I thought we were all equal. Nope. never was, never will be. The closest they got to equality was Truth, and that was self-evident. (whatever that means). The Checks and Balances that we talk about today were a compromise between the Haves and the Haves speaking on behalf of the Have-nots. The Have-nots weren't even invited to the Con.
Okay. Well if we really didn't win that much Freedom why do we celebrate Independence Day? Well, first off, most of the stuff we fought the war over, we usurped for our selves. Taxes. Trade monopolys, etc etc. We still traded with the English, but we marked up our goods for a tidy profit. We also discovered that Statehood with a common purpose was a good thing. (To the Republic for which we Stand) States Rights were a big deal back then. Before Big Government was invented. (Probably by Roosevelt). We could turn our eyes westward and do some colonization of our own. However the main reason we Celebrate Independence Day is that our Government made it a National Holiday. Lest we Forget.
Don't get me wrong here, We have become a Great Nation perhaps the greatest since Rome. We invented Rock and Roll, Soda Pop, and Levis; and those innovations alone have toppled communism and made the world vulnerable to terrorists attacks.
I do however question our methods of achieving greatness and even more so, our methods of keeping us great. We are not as unique as we like to think. All Empires must grow on the backs of conquered or enslaved peoples. Its not really the Empire that bothers me though, Its those damn Haves-!!!! They have persisted in the governing of our country and along the way have re-invented some old Empire-like tricks like Graft and Payola at the expense of Have-nots.
We have contaminated ground water. Diminished supplys of aquafer water levels. Diverted Rivers like the Rio Grande that become puddles. A dead zone in the Gulf about the size of Michigan where no fish can live. You would also be hard pressed to find a River Fish anywhere you could safely eat. New Diseases among livestock and Deer Populations in the Northwest. No Meat inspectors for Packing plants that supply meat to our Schools. Schools that have become prisons, complete with metal detectors and name tags for students. Suburbs built on Land fills. Suburbs built in flood Zones. Inner citys that are War Zones. An Aging super-structure (Dams, Bridges, and Highways) that will eventually crumble and fall. Laws that have no meaning. Mining and Clear Cutting in our National Forests. Racism. Sexism. Discriminaton against immigrants, the elderly, the disabled. Poor health care and high priced drugs. An aging Baby Boomer population that will face a bankrupt social security system, a lack of adequate doctors and nurses, and no hospital beds.
So why do we Party on the 4th? hey, the rest of the world is even in worse shape. We got smart and exported our dirty industries. cheaper labor market too. Some of them slaves like in the Chocolate and clothing industries. Who really cares as long as we can get our Snickers Bars and button downs? I for one, will party just as hard as the next guy come the fourth. After all its a national Holiday. Let the wife work her two jobs. I am going to party with the boys. Eat drink and be Merry for tomorrow we might just have another Revolution.
Posted by: Null Actor
 Quote:
Originally posted by laborat
hey, the rest of the world is even in worse shape.
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I beg to differ. Canada may be almost like the US... but some of the bad stuff about the states you listed doesn't apply to us 
Posted by: JANNA
dunno bout all that labby.... u raised a lot of topics that would take me more time today than my hour before work to speak on. but i do want to comment that i disagree with about 90% of that
Posted by: laborat
Nova -- Oh. Canada. I keep forgetting you guys are the only country in the world that actually believes what your government tells you. I apologize. You are right. Most of the stuff I said doesn't apply to Canada. (until someone actually looks closely at the doctored figures coming out of Oughta Wa.) I have looked at your country's gunshot fatalities, and have concluded along with the government that most were moose hunting accidents. I like Canadians. Spent a lot of time up there. But you have to admit anyone who would put tomato juice in good beer is not playing with a full deck. My favorite Canadas are DRY and BACON.
JANNA -- old friend, feel free to disagree with what I have said. Just don't expect a spirited debate. Alas, most of the stuff is actually true and that is sad. The history lesson has a few holes in it but is essentially correct. I left out the part where the Bostonians sent the Black guy down the street first to see if the British would shoot. The list of stuff wrong at the end is correct and I stand by it. What I didn't make clear is that all of our woes are because someone with money got someone in congress to change laws that protected us and our environment so they could make more money. (writing this column did, however, get me to change my mind about the rich and powerful. they are stupid. Hell, they and their families have to live on this planet too. unless they know something we don't know yet.)
Posted by: JANNA
i had a huge long response but wiped it. but i dont see the history of the US as the governmnet doing things i see history as individuals doing things. the bad things that people do tend to get the country and its inhabitants labeled in a bad way. but the good things that are done get the individual painted as doing the deed instead of the government. history is made up of people dong things not governments a government is a piece of paper, it is a set of rules to follow. it is the people that either make it good or bad. take germany in 1930 when hitler first assumed power. he did a LOT of good things to raise germany out of depression and brought his country to be a world power and we know what happened from there... then we can peek at winston churchill he made a lot of poor decisions and was a so-so leader until ww2 kicked off which he came thru in fine fashion. in both cases it wasnt the paper that determined the course of either country it was the people that were there at the time that made history.
history is made up of people doing things not governments.
Posted by: Null Actor
Quote:
Originally posted by laborat
Nova -- Oh. Canada. I keep forgetting you guys are the only country in the world that actually believes what your government tells you.
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Not exactly We dislike our government just the same as everyone else dislikes theirs.
Posted by: tkron
Well Big Business has been trying to get at those resources for ages now. They finally have someone in the white house whom they reared and groomed. And Mr Bush has what looks like a valid excuse to allow Big Business to rape, no pillage, no exploite, no develop (ya thats the right word) those resources to handle our "energy" crisis, until a better solution can be found.
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