Y5 D41

Another good day yesterday. So quiet. Before I go too deep into things, allow me to share with you something I wrote and posted yesterday: 

A reminder this 4th of July

Dear fellow Americans,While we celebrate our ‘freedom’ today by violently blowing things up, let’s pause for a moment and reflect on some things:- We have a government that is stalking us and monitoring everything we do without denial or apology- The person who brought this to light is being labeled and prosecuted as a ‘traitor’ (much like our founding fathers were considered in Britain)

- Women are still fighting to have control and say over their own bodies and we have to have filibusters to get anywhere

- College students are going into debt beyond their means only to find themselves entering a job market with no hope of employment

- Housing prices have far exceeded the average cost of living increase year over year and the hope of the ‘American Dream’ is beyond the grasp of most people

- Here in California we are being charged .10 for a paper bag to buy our groceries, $4.25 for a gallon of gas, and yet, we can’t seem to figure out how to get money into public eduction, public transportation, or public health services

- We as a country are on the bottom when it comes to providing our citizens with a realistic working wage at the minimum level while CEOs today will be celebrating in multi-million dollar homes, take home million dollar bonus checks, and reduce worker hours to ‘save’ on paying out for health insurance

- Too many American have NO health insurance, no access to acceptable medical care, and will die today because of it

‘Freedom’ yes does come at a price; and American soldiers have sacrificed their lives many times for us to enjoy the freedoms we have, such as me writing a post like this without fear of being jailed tonight (hopefully). But sometimes that price is VERY high and our freedoms are taken away slowly without us even realizing it. Imagine if gas had gone from $1.00 a gallon to $4.00 a gallon overnight. It would have caused anger and outrage. But instead it slowly creeped up over the last 5 years and we accepted it. Re-read that list above. How much are we wiling to accept in the name of ‘Freedom’? We have achieved considerable gains in our short time as a nation, but every day we should remember we have major strides left to make. Together as Americans we will make them. It may take time and it may take sacrifice. We need to come together and make sure ALL of our citizens are free and have the ability to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.

Never forget that our initial ‘Freedom’ was the result of a group of spoiled, rich, slave owning, land owning, misogynistic white males, who wanted to expand and conquer without paying taxes. And in some ways, not much has changed…

Enjoy.

And there is my 4th of July rant. Yay me. We ran a couple of errands yesterday, but pretty much didn't leave the house. Most things were closed which was fine with us. We went to the little farmer's market for some veggies and a pie. Also got some blueberries. Went down to the pool for a while. Watched some TV (finally finished Batman Beyond), played some video games, read, and just enjoyed a quiet day in the house. If this is my new life, I like it.