As I find myself on the cusp of the United States Day of Independence, July 4^th, I have to reflect on what has happened in this great country. I read an article today, regarding George Washington and the role he played in the successful effort to free the colonies from the grip of the monarchy of King George. It was no small feat for a handful of farmers and merchants to come together to defeat what was arguably the most powerful fighting force in the world at that time.

What is often lost in the history books is that not all the colonists were in favor of severing ties with England. And at times there were vicious conflicts between colonists on opposing sides, as the war raged between the colonies that were soon to become the United States, and the British. Yet, the United States emerged as a sovereign nation, and began the journey through the centuries bringing us to 2010.

This Sunday, 234 years will have passed since that day in 1776 when a handful of visionary men signed a landmark document declaring that the people of the colonies sought to overthrow it’s governance as a result of a long list of grievances.

This was no small task, yet it meant that there were enough citizens willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, rather than live under governance which was non-representative and inhumane. It meant that 234 years ago, there were ordinary people who had reached a point where their hopes and dreams were being squashed by a despotic government, 3000 miles across a vast ocean. There were British troops quartered in towns and villages who could murder and pillage without any fear of punishment. Property could be seized without redress, and the judicial system operated far away from the place of the crime, back in England, if at all.

The colonists, under the leadership of George Washington, defeated the British Army, made up mostly of Hessian mercenaries, who had no real stake in who won the war. And the rest as they say is “history.”

The question that comes to mind, on this day of patriotic remembrance, lies in a couple of words that are bandied about; freedom and liberty.

Robert Ringer recently wrote; “… virtually all socialists/Marxists/communists sincerely believe they are champions of freedom. Have you ever heard a dictator say he is against freedom? I think we can all agree that just about everyone claims to be in favor of freedom. The problem, however, is that there is much disagreement on the true meaning of the word.

Unfortunately, one individual’s idea of freedom can actually violate another person’s freedom. To one person, liberty means doing what he wants with his own life, while to another person it means doing what he wants with other people’s lives. Therefore, both of these people say that the person’s concept of freedom is tyranny.”

Ultimately freedom would seem to be the right to do what I want to do, as long is it doesn’t interfere with the freedom of another.

As we approach the 234^th, Independence Day celebration here in the US, it would do well for us to reflect on what we want to be true 234 years from now. What do we want the generations to follow to report about us? Who will champion the causes of what is right? Who will stand up to those who would trample other people, and the planet, for their own short term personal gain?

There was an Irish philosopher who lived at the same time the American Revolution was fought. He said, ”The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

On Sunday, I’ll be watching the fireworks exploding over the Hudson River, not so unlike the vision Francis Scott Key viewed on the night he conceived “The Star Spangled Banner”, but from the safety of a highrise apartment, surrounded by friends and family. As I watch this exhilarating display, I’ll be thinking ahead about what must be done to preserve what was set forth 234 years ago, and is being undermined daily under the eyes of those who choose to do nothing.

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