Diatribe on the Fourth of July

 Greetings from Guatemala.
       I spend this Fourth of July at the base of Mount Agua in the town of Antigua. Though I should probably be on the road I decided to do some hiking, and writing, in celebration of a holiday which always received plenty of attention at the Gillette household.
       Yesterday I checked into a hotel that I really couldn't afford, but they allowed me to pull my motorcycle into the lobby. This freed me to take to the surrounding mountains, getting some exercise which didn't involve wrestling a laden BMW R1150GS, and in doing so collect my thoughts for a special Independence Day journal entry. A much edited version I share, here, with you.

     On this day celebrating our American Independence, I contemplate our Constitution, its current interpretation, and of how corporations and unions have replaced the individual in its protection. I wonder if the supreme court justices ever stop to think whether it was corporations that the founding fathers had in mind as they drafted the First Amendment, or was it intended to shelter an obstinate fool such as myself from the reprisal of overbearing authority? To be quite honest I don't think they really care.
     The interests which currently drive our judicial and economic systems are not those of the average person but those of a tyranny of wealth that will use us or destroy us. It can only do so if we allow it, but our complacency in living the the good life has seen many Liberties lost, and freedom without Liberty is simply a word used to confuse.
     It has been said that the price of true Freedom is eternal vigilance, and there is a high cost associated with the maintenance of this freedom, from the loss of time and money to the loss of life. Those footing the bill are often portrayed as stupid, or evil, but I see them as my brethren, and I fight beside them for a brighter tomorrow.

     Happy Fourth of July and God bless America.