"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
- The Declaration of Independence
Happy Independence Day, Outlaws!
This morning, over coffee, I was pondering what "freedom" meant in this "land of the free."
It's not news that our country is divided. But surely, it has never been more divided... unprecedented, right?
I don't think so. This country has always been divided. It was founded on division. The formation of the United States of America was to say, "We're divided, but we're UNITED."
We're divided because we celebrate freedom to worship how we choose, and protect the freedom of others to worship as they choose. We're divided because we celebrate the freedom to choose our future, rather than having our station defined at birth. We're divided because we have freedom of expression, and our expressions are often very different.
But we're UNITED in our commitment to protecting our countrymen's rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
So much of the political and social rhetoric these days seems intent on escalating people's emotions by declaring, with increasing frantic urgency, that the "other side" is trying to take away these unalienable rights... that in order to protect ourselves, we must do something.
The other day, I saw an Instagram video that reminded me of the foundational truth of this rhetoric: "Is this person getting paid to just piss me off?"
The link's here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8zQECnBk0t/?igsh=aWJ5a3lzanozOXMx
(seriously, you should watch it. It's so good - I wouldn't recommend an instagram reel lightly)
Rather than taking the bait and getting pissed off that people are trying to take our own rights, I'd like to propose that we all take a deep breath and think about the rights of others. Not just our own friends' rights, but our countrymen's rights.
Let's take a breath and think about the rights of strangers who we've never met (and who we may never meet).
And not the rights to do whatever we or anyone else wants (because that's not the unalienable rights the forefathers were talking about), but the rights, specifically, of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
It's right and good that we disagree about things - that's what our country was founded on - but let's really commit to protecting those unalienable rights.
It's what we're all here for.
And because I can't close this blog post without some kind of 4th of July sale, I marked down The Independents Blend-Your-Own-Scents sets: https://liveoutlaw.com/products/bap-af7bc8fb-f10a-4c3d-8da5-bad832867d85
Also, we have some shirts and mugs with "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness": https://liveoutlaw.com/collections/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness
Be free, Outlaws!
