Independence Day

Today, ironically, we celebrate our independence. Two hundred and forty years ago we cast off a totalitarian government for a long chain of abuses. I’d like to show you how far we’ve come.

Independence Day

Declaration of IndependenceBut first, it’s important to understand what Independence Day is, and what it is not. On the Fourth of July, 1776, we did not create the United States of America. We did not create the behemoth that has become the most corrupt and indefensible nation on the planet. The Declaration  did not grant extraordinary authority to an exclusive few while the rest had their liberty, privacy and individuality revoked. It did not preserve the horrors  of  slavery, religious persecution, and war. These things cannot exist without government, and this Declaration effectively dissolved ours.

It’s really telling  that last  week the UK dissolved their membership with the European Union. Forty years ago fewer than the population of Florida within the UK decided they needed a new master, and two thirds of the population chose the federalism of the EU.  After Federalism didn’t work, about the same number of people that voted them in, voted them back out again. For now, at least.

Home again, home again. Back here, back then, in the Americas, where we had thrown off our foreign masters and united for our own defense, things were tough for a few years, yet. The ensuing war lasted seven years and took the lives of as many as 75,000 colonials and up to 100,000 others. But that’s a different story. What we’re talking about here is the Declaration. The moment we chose to throw off the chains of imperialism.

flagBelow you’ll find the text of the Declaration of Independence, with links throughout to current events demonstrating that while we may have had a brief, 240-year hiatus, we’re in the position Franklin knew was the inevitable result of all Republics in known history.

One final note: I’m sick of hearing those who signed the Declaration lumped in with the  “Founders”. They didn’t “found” anything, they dissolved their  bond with a government that bore them nothing but disrespect, malice and ill will.


IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. – Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the  public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. – And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

 

Get Ready for Tax Time

In today’s economic climate it pays to be smart and could mean the difference between an okie dokie tax refund and a real nice fat one.

Tax

Lots of people have taken jobs where they get tips: waitress, waiter, delivery person, etc… You’ll want to keep track of those tips. Not only are you supposed to claim them, but  it could make you thousands of dollars. The figures vary every year, so I won’t bore you with the numbers but in order to qualify for the earned income credit, you have earned income. Right?

Well, up to a certain point, the more you make, the more earned income credit you get. So, claiming that extra $5,000 in tips could net you a tidy sum when it comes to tax time.  Every little bit helps. I’ll tell you another secret.

We keep all our  receipts, that way when we do our taxes some things that we didn’t think were tax  deductible  were actually deductible. I just put them in a folder marked business or personal, but I always check back through the personal stuff, just in case I missed something.

If you find a mistake, you can go back and amend a return for three years.

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Pressured Into Silence

“Have you ever met one of those students, who, at age eighteen, has a completely different worldview than you, because their parents watch FOX News? It’s hard to tell them they are wrong, because they’ve been brainwashed.”

The whole class laughed.

One of my teachers actually said this just last week. He continued, “I mean, this might be some of you sitting in the class, and I’m sorry.” His tone was still sarcastic. Ugh, no you’re not. If you were sorry, why would you say it in the first place? I thought to myself.

I do not generally like talking about politics. However, I have needed to let this out for three years-since I started college. I am not going to beat around the bush, talk down how I really feel, or try to be polite. In fact, I am going to be blunt. This is my one chance to let this out in an academic setting.

I am a very Conservative Republican.

Before we go on, let’s clear the air. Yes, I have been raised in a Conservative town, with Conservative family members, who have Conservative values. But I know exactly what I believe in, and I know why I believe in these values and ideas. I know the opposing-side’s argument. I am not against hearing about Liberal, or Democrat ideals. I am not ignorant. I am not closed-minded. Most importantly, I am not a bad person. I just generally tend to find more logic (told you I would be blunt) in Conservative perspectives.

Being a Conservative Republican is not easy for a girl like me. I go to a public, liberal arts university in one of the most liberal areas of one of the most liberal states in America.

Sadly, last week was not the first time I heard a snarky remark from a teacher. In fact, I have learned to expect it. It does not surprise, shock, and appall me like it did when I first came to college.

These comments bother me not because I disagree with what my professors have said. Rather, the reason the comments upset me so much, is because the professors act like everyone else in the room agrees with them-or at least they should agree. They deliver their unnecessary opinions in a manner which make the students who have opposing viewpoints feel that they are stupid and ridiculous for believing what they believe. However, having to hear these comments has become the norm for me.

Not many college students have the same political beliefs I do-even if they have been raised with Conservative values. College students are stereotypically liberal. I have no problem with other students having differing views than myself. I am also fine with my professors holding different beliefs. What really rattles me is when the professors assume that their opinions need to be shared with the whole class-like the opinions are essential to the curriculum. I am sorry-I do not remember signing up for college to have the instructors shove their beliefs down my throat.

Professors, when you are teaching a history lesson, perhaps lecturing on the famous day of December 7, 1941, it is not necessary that you throw in your opinion on the current war in the middle-East. This leads to your opinions on the President, which connects to the supposedly mindless candidates for the 2013 election. This somehow triggers the whole class to start discussing taxes, government entitlements, welfare, abortion, legalizing marijuana-cultural issues which can be very touchy for many people on both sides of the fence.

Now there are a few outspoken students in the class who are are inconsiderately rambling on and on about how stupid they think the government, the world, the Republican party, or the state of California is, and the proud professor is praising their rambling. Instead of re-directing the attention back to Pearl Harbor (did you even remember what we were talking about?), the professor is now agreeing with the students and bashing people who disagree with them.

While all of this is happening, I am sitting in my desk and looking down, so that my looks of disgust and disbelief are not seen by anyone else in the room. How can they NOT realize that some of us may not agree with them? Do they even know that other people might believe something different? Why am I sitting here taking all of this? Should I be defending myself? No-that would cause the whole class to look down on me. I wonder if the professor would lower my grade if I tried to share the opposite view of this issue with the class. Can we just stop? This is irrelevant. Stop talking about it-this is so pathetic. Stop. Stop. Stop. Ugh. Disagree. No. Stop. Please.

Last spring, I had an experience with a professor who gave me a tough time for trying to say what I believe. We had to write an opinion-based paper related to issues in the war, and I decided to write about the issue of the treatment of war criminals. When I received my graded paper, I found that my professor had graded me based on my beliefs. Her hand-written comments filled the margins and they were certainly about her opinions versus mine. I could see her disagreement and anger in her handwriting. She asked me to re-write the paper four times and had me address different issues within the topic each time.

Her “suggestions” were merely comments which made me feel idiotic for saying what I had said. “Well, you need to talk about…” and “You do not understand what I am asking you! It is imperative that you address this issue!”

All I could do was re-write the paper like she asked. I worked so hard to simply defend myself and what I was saying. I would not give in. I was livid. Not because she disagreed with me-I expected that. What I did not expect, was her disrespectfulness and unprofessionalism in forcing me to question my own beliefs after I had opened up and shared. Her class was the last one I took in the department before changing my major to English.

Being conservative in a liberal community is not easy. I have found eight or ten people who share my beliefs here at Sonoma State. Finding a conservative friend at this university is like finding an English-speaking person in a foreign country where you do not understand the native language. In a foreign country, you are away from home and the people who believe and understand the same way you do. When I find someone who agrees with my political beliefs here at SSU, I am so relieved. Someone finally understands and agrees with me. Someone else is insulted by the students who preach their opinions in class, and disappointed by the professors who unprofessionally fail to discourage the ridicule. I am not the only one. Someone else get me.

Professor, I am the FOX news girl you were mocking last week.

And guess what, professors? We “FOX-newsers” have feelings too. Did that ever cross your highly educated minds? Probably not-brainwashed Republicans are heartless, right? We could argue just as much that you “CNN-er’s” are also brainwashed. There really are more of us than you realize. We are just too afraid to speak up. Maybe if you would be more respectful and open to hearing other viewpoints, the class could have a more well-rounded view of the issues our country and world face. Maybe if you were not too busy preaching your beliefs and mocking ours, you would learn something new. Maybe the class would have an intellectually stimulating, professional, and respectful discussion. Because of your ignorant and upsetting remarks, this is not possible.

I always stand up for what I believe in-except in these situations. In a public California university, a place where students go to get their degree-to become well educated and more aware of the world, I am pressured into silence. I am surrounded by closed-mindedness. And it is one of the most frustrating and upsetting feelings for us-the brainwashed victims.

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