As I watch the spin and roar of the 4th Of July, amidst the true importance of the holiday, divine innocence and ignorance, coupled with entrenched entitlement and weapons, and the duty to buy and consume, and lay waste to the earth, in our true Manifest Density of righteousness, I wonder, as I always do, what is this nuthouse, and why do we act so little in the self interests of anything's future?

Yesterday, I read a headline, and felt deep grief, at the story of 3 teenagers, dead in a car crash amidst the California North Coastal beauty. Two were from the same family. What a true nightmare, for any family and community. Truly, and deeply. The worlds are rendered raw in an instant, with a phone call in the night.....

And then there are our endless wars, on different countries, different religions, different, beliefs, on all of the commons of Nature, and on each other. Where is the grief, and what is our response to all of these? Every person killed, every environment rendered into wastelands, is, and was, dear to someones, and a part of the fabric of their communities, and, we too/so rarely even consider lives which are not human in any of our deliberations.....

A couple hundred years ago, plus a score and almost 20, (as the story goes) some white folks got together and wrote some stuff, tossed some ideas about, and declared independence from Brittan. Just for now, go ahead and ignore any lack of independence for the "Natives" or any life already living here, or whatever the real facts and motives and stories may have been for any of "our" wars and battles for "freedom, justice or fairness" and come to our present time, now, today, here, and take a look around.

We have a Supreme Court and decisions such as Citizens United, Scotus, and Corporate Personhood and Corporate Speech being move free and more valued than actual humans..... We have a world on the brink of environmental collapse, and one in which appearances seem to be more important than substance. we have a world with much professing, of this leader or that, and of this doctrine or that, and blah, blah, blah. Our system is broken and corrupted. Patriotism is just not about shooting someone, or supporting a system full of self serving lunatics. Where ARE the real patriots, I wonder? The ones more akin to the leaders too many profess to follow.

Where ARE the patriots for love? The patriots for feeding and sheltering, and taking care of each other? Mostly what I see are "patriots" which continually kill and destroy, and extract "profits...."

We are failing in our "duty" folk, our duty to future life, and our duty to LOVE.

Happy Independence day, and enjoy the barby, and grab our guns in righteous consumerism, as well as anger and fear of whatever we disagree with or do not understand........

Some of us still dream of Independence, and freedom, and justice, etc, not at the end of a dollar, not at the end of a landfill of wasted life and wasted environments, or at the end of a gun.....

but with the warmth of a heart, and with love and respect for all life. Happy Interdependence Day. Everyday, and with every breath, and with every waking dollar.....

The only real wealth or security are to be found in clean air, pure water and healthy soil, along with diverse interconnected ecosystems, and communities.

What ARE we doing to create or leave a world worth living in for anythings future?

We do have a choice, and we do choose, with every waking dollar, with every flip of the switch, turn of the key, heat /cool of the thermostat, and once living environment tossed away in the form of disposable buy products, etc, etc.

What ARE we choosing?

Happy Independence day....... My we have Independence from the greed and gluttony which is world politics.