I trust most of you managed to celebrate your independence without sacrificing fingers to a Chinese fireworks factory. Show of hands please?
This week marked 240 years since this country-to-be declared it's independence from a king. The most American thing I could find on this 4th was some dude at Coney Island eating 70 hot dogs in ten minutes. Independence can be a wonder to digest.
The hometown fireworks show the night before was just as outstanding, btw. The EC fire department outdid themselves on a perfect evening.
Back to independence, I wonder if we really know what it is? I don't think most of the folk who did the declaring all those years ago would look at where we are today and think yes, that's what we were going for.
Besides being independent from a King, the Founders were breaking free of a corrupt government ruled by a handful of corporations. The tea went into the harbor because it was the East India Company's product that parliament and the King forced the colonies to buy. Taxes were put on products NOT sold by the East India Company.
So they'd be happy we're not bowing to a ruler, but gobsmacked that we've given most of our independence away to corporations. I'm not just talking about Apple or Exxon or NewsCorp or Chase, I"m talking about the NRA and the Sierra Club and the two most corrupt corporations in the USA, the Republican and Democratic parties.
Don't confuse corporation with business. Like the originals, we're pro-business at Paddling Upstream. We just understand corporatism is anti-competition, thus anti-business. Corporatism is for the monopoly and we have rules against that. We used to enforce them.
The constitution that was ratified 12 years after independence was declared gave the power to the people. While specific rights were spelled out for individuals, not any were spelled out for corporations. Unfortunately, neither were limits, a power left to the states as one of the many compromises.
Independence and compromise might seem at cross purposes to some. But compromise is the only true guarantee for independence for the people under our system of government. It is compromise that makes our society work.
Which brings us back to those two corporations, the Republican and the Democratic parties. We have entrusted these corporations to make our government work. When problems arise, we expect them to find solutions.
But that doesn't happen. Making the government work and supporting society isn't the top priority of our corporate parties. Winning elections and serving corporate and special interests are their priorities.
Our governent is a body down on the Supreme Court. Our constitution spells out how the court is to be filled, but the majority party of the senate refuses to fulfill its duties. Our own Senator Yertle has burrowed so deep in the muck that the only whiff of him is a few noxious bubbles each Sunday on Meet the Press.
Our government in operation is now simply political theater enabled by an out of control media dominated by a small handful of multi-national corporations. We the People have absolutely no control or recourse because we've confused people with corporations.
Until we become independent of the corporations that now control every aspect of our system of government, the people will not be truly independent.