@Fishtroller 02 I'm more a glass half full type.

That first sentence in it's modern interpretation means everyone, and maybe that's what it meant at the time also. I've lived in a few other countries, but I choose this one.

I haven't noticed any one forcing me into any religion, and yes suicide continues to be high, and anti abortion extremists accomplished part of what they set out to do.

The SCOTUS turn to the right was predestined with the Democratic Party's decision to forgo supporting the working class back in 16. You reap what you sow. The mid terms should be horrible and in 24 the Rs will more than likely control all of the 3 branches.

Meantime I'll enjoy some burgers and I hope to replace the flag on my porch that I took down for the remodel.

This year I say Bah Humbug to a celebration that comes on the heels of the total destruction of separation of church and state, the further spread of gun violence, and the dismantling of Roe v Wade.

Speaking of this... there are over 30 major cities in the US that will be hosting rallies against SCOTUS's decisions. https://riseup4abortionrights.org/july-4/

@Pricknick There, you see, even you have a reason to celebrate the US today. Our incarceration rate has fallen for 3 years and is down to 358 per 100K. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/p20st.pdf Unless, of course, you think our justice dept is part of some big conspiracy to keep the "real" numbers secret. Personally I'd like to see a lot more locked up until they are no longer a threat. Asians are getting beat and killed left and right and no one gives a crap, except maybe that SF DA that was recalled. Yay!.

There are a lot of violent criminals in the US, and they're better off in jail.

Many places have fewer incarcerated because they never make it to trial.

Yup, inequality sucks. Puts all the power with the wealthy. Not sure what is to be done.

I live in a county that produces a lot of gas and oil, You have to look careful to see the derricks, and here's the kicker, most people here have a pretty small footprint. Carbon shadows income.

Plus being a half full glass guy I enjoy the immense beauty of the national forests and the continental divide 12 miles west.

Happy Fourth.

2 million + in the u.s. alone.

Immense wealth?

And of course you mean the natural beauty of this:

Nope. I don't celebrate a once wonderful country in steep decline. Too busy finding ways to help the less fortunate.

@JtC 5.63, 3.54

are you a right winger? Just putting a label on you since you seem to enjoy labeling other folks here.

@Pluto's Republic it made for interesting reading. I pretty much agreed with all of their scoring. The US certainly doesn't have as good a functioning democracy as many in Northern Europe. Last time I looked only at the democracy index.

I notice the Baltic Republics all score well and are listed as free, Ukraine as partly free, and Russia as not free. Georgia also as partly free. Finland a perfect 100, guess they are intent on keeping it that way. Crimea which they do list, at a dismal 7, and China at 9.

If I had to put a name to it I'd say freedom is the freedom to do as you wish. We might not like paying taxes but that's part of the price. I certainly don't like to listen to people lay guilt trips on me, and I certainly still have the freedom to tell them where to file that nonsense.

To those who hate the freedoms we do have here I heartily encourage them to go elsewhere. We can get passports and have the freedom to emigrate.

And Americans use the word 'freedom' incessantly, perhaps 100 times more often than any other culture on earth.

The problem with words like 'freedom' and 'liberty' is that they have no meaning as stand-stone words. They only have meaning when used in context, that is, the meaning of the word depends on the unique conditions of constraint that the speaker has in mind. Are we talking about freedom from slavery or from prison, or from strict parents, or harsh laws, or a bad marriage?

The dictionary says 'freedom' almost always refers to a release from forced constraints. If you are not aware of forced constraints in your life, it's difficult to understand what people mean when they spout the word "freedom." If you have a quick imagination, you can easily conjur being released from a trap, and feel the relief. That's certainly worth a beer toast in a sports bar.

I do know, however, what the Founders had in mind when they referred to 'freedom.' The words of the First Amendment itself establish six specific rights/freedoms: (1) the right to be free from governmental establishment of religion (the “Establishment Clause”), (2) the right to be free from governmental interference with the practice of religion (the “Free Exercise Clause”), (3) the right to free speech, (4) the right to freedom of the press, (5) the right to assemble peacefully (which includes the right to associate freely with whomever one chooses), and (6) the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

I wonder if Americans are contemplating these freedoms of the Founders, because we are fast losing them, one-by-one. One thing I've noticed is that Americans do not like to compare themselves to other rich nations. If they are contemplating 'freedom' you can be sure they are mentally comparing the US to place that is a deep, dark, pit of unrelenting inhumanity. "Fuck yeah. We've got Freedom!"

Or maybe not, because 'freedom' is used by today's freedom-lovers to indicate a different set of freedoms, which they struggling to establish as law. Just as Thomas Jefferson described in the Declaration of Independence, people will put up with the abuse they perceive for a long time, before they reach a breaking point. These current freedom-lovers believe they have been corralled by growing constraints that are encroaching on their freedoms, as a result of bad government policies. These constraints include immigrants moving to the US, migrant labor, paying taxes, providing health care to immigrants, trying to fix climate change, blaming climate change on human activities, paying reparations to victims of US genocide, state support of solar panels and green energy, foreign aid, the EPA, and the policies of the Federal Reserve. They are demanding freedom from these costly constraints imposed on them by the government and paid for by their tax dollars.

I rarely mention "freedom', probably because I don't believe that the political problems I see are caused by a lack of freedom. They are caused by a deeply corrupt political system and truly depraved politicians. At the same time, I do not believe political change is possible anymore in the US. The US quest to control the wealth of the world has resulted in and relentless and unrestrained blast of propaganda and outright lies, that are used to manipulate the American People into supporting the aggressive foreign wars to achieve global Empire. The American People are now a population of misinformed citizens — who cling to nonsense narratives concocted to inflame them with outrage toward designated US rivals, cheering for war and economic chaos. The People are neatly severed from the actual facts and from critical geopolitical awareness. In domestic matters, the basic principles of democracy and accountability were thrown out the window a long time ago. Voting in Federal elections has been a deliberate exercise in backroom chaos of state bosses for over two-hundred years — generating dumpsters filled with ballots and vote counts that veer wildly from exit polls. For decades we allowed Congress to gamble their way to wealth in the stock markets, using insider information about economic events. We have religious barkers participating in debates and coaching Representatives during key legislation. Foreign agents (AIPAC), investment bankers, bomb makers have significantly more influence over the legislative agenda and over the laws that get passed than the American people do. The People will be lucky to vote at all, and even luckier if their ballots are not tossed in the trash. And year over year for the past fifty years, the well-being of the American people and their economic security have been steadily diminished. The People's mental health has never been in worse shape.

US Democracy has been subverted and corrupted for a long time. Now the United States has sunk to new low in rankings of the World's Democracies.

The US has fallen to a new low in a global ranking of political rights and civil liberties, a drop fueled by unequal treatment of minority groups, damaging influence of money in politics, and increased polarization, according to a new report by Freedom House, a democracy watchdog group.

The US earned 83 out of 100 possible points this year in Freedom House’s annual rankings of freedoms around the world, an 11-point drop from its ranking of 94 a decade ago. The US’s new ranking places it on par with countries like Panama, Romania and Croatia and behind countries such as Argentina and Mongolia. It lagged far behind countries like the United Kingdom (93), Chile (93), Costa Rica (91) and Slovakia (90)

In 2021, Freedom House published an extensive report focusing on Democracy failures in the US — a move motivated by increasing concern over attacks on freedoms in the US. It details the inequities that minority groups face when it comes to the criminal justice system and voting.

A radical Supreme Court, which will be in place for the next three or four decades, has made it legal for powerful corporations and very wealthy individuals to use their money to exert extreme influence over government policy decisions — to the detriment of the will of the American People. This has already severely damaged public trust in the US government. And neither party in the Duopoly is willing to legislate in order to stop this authoritarian crisis, which is just getting started. Elected Members of Congress, who have all gained substantial wealth while in Washington — if not from Donors then from insider trading — are certainly not going to raise a stink.

Other than that, I really like the Declaration of Independence. I believe it is the most intellectually honest document that the US has produced.

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