Saturday, July 5, 2003 | 2:47 a.m.
IT IS TIME to declare our independence again.
Americans are recovering from what was another celebration of that July 4, 1776, day when some very courageous, unselfish and unhappy people banded together to declare their independence from England and its king who, how shall we say it, took the colonies for granted while taking the colonists for most of what they produced.
Whether it was tea in Boston Harbor or religious freedom, the yoke from across the Atlantic was too burdensome for the people from this side of the pond to bear on their way to greatness. Hence the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War and 227 years of an experiment in democracy that still leads the world.
So why are we so unhappy? I don't mean you and me and our neighbors. We are some of the happiest and most appreciative people around when it comes to counting blessings and enjoying the great freedoms that separate the United States of America from every country on Earth. No, I mean those other people. The folks who never seem satisfied with what they have and always want what their neighbors have without making the sacrifices necessary for such achievement.
You know who I am talking about. The people who are always saying "no" to any attempt to make the opportunities of this great land more available to others -- especially those who have just landed on our shores. The people who have that, "I've got mine" attitude that makes it so much more difficult in a democracy to give the little guy a chance to get a little piece of his dream. The people who are always finding ways to point to what is wrong with our society rather than embracing all the things that are right. If that were done, those things that need fixing could get fixed rather than continuing a status quo of inaction and ineptitude --- killers in a capitalistic society that thrives on creativity, ingenuity and decision-making.
Sure, I am thinking about the failure of the Nevada Legislature to do its job. And, yes, I am thinking about those big companies in this state which do so well, make so much money and refuse to share a cent of it in any effort designed to teach the next generation how to do even better. And, yes, I am thinking about people who play into the hands of those who seek only to help themselves but use the disgruntled and the unhappy amongst us to fight their battles.
I think about all of these people and on this Independence Day weekend I wonder just how those young, brave and selfless colonists could have ever conceived of something so grand as splitting off from England if they had to deal with the negativity that confounds us two centuries later. Talk about an uphill fight!
We are not looking to dissolve any "political bands" which have connected us to a mother ship such as Great Britain. What we should be looking for, though, is a way to tighten the bands of a political system that declares that the will of the majority -- save for the proper and appropriate deference to the rights of the minority -- should determine the course of events for these United States. We should be looking for the ways to give a "decent respect" for the opinions of our friends and neighbors rather than to constantly ridicule them on the nightly television talk shows and during the daylight radio drive times so as to give their ideas short shrift and make them think that we are not in this whole thing together.
Those in positions of political leadership should back up a few steps and realize that King George got into trouble with the colonists by imposing too many rules, regulations and unilateral decisions on the colonists, not because it was right but because he could. And that, together with what seemed like an unbridled power grab, was his undoing.
But, if we are to make real progress towards the kind of independence from the pettiness of our human nature that seems to be holding this great country back, it is up to the people. For, if we do not have it in ourselves to cast aside our differences and build upon our common strengths then we cannot expect others to do it in our name. If we will not tune the naysayers out of our lives for at least enough time to properly consider the course for this great country, then we will never be able to remove our self-imposed yokes which tether us to the way things were and not free us to make things the way we want them to be.
It is time, I believe, to declare our own kind of independence. The kind which declares that we, the people, will think for ourselves and act on our own best instincts, not in the financial interests of others who would use us to further themselves. That kind of independence is difficult, I understand, because it requires time and effort and determination.
And it requires us to learn, not from the shrill voices but from the calm and professorial ones. Not from those with political power agendas who think as far out as the next election, but from those who think out decades in advance without regard to the political consequences. In short, it requires a bit of hard work. But when you consider the sacrifices so many people made so many years ago just so we could get ourselves into the mess we are in today, it doesn't seem like work that is too much or too hard. Does it?
So, let's get busy. Independence Day 2004 is right around the corner.
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