As all of us Americans know, today is our Independence Day.  That’s right, The 4th of July.  The day of barbecues, backyard gatherings and alien invasions (in the box office at least, haha).

I have to admit, I always felt our celebration for this day of days in America was a little underwhelming.  I mean true, our usual backyard oasis themed celebrations are basically as American as they get.  What I think isn’t enough is the fact that independence part of the day isn’t thought through enough.

I mean yeah, they have the fireworks, and the glitz and glamour, but honestly, I think they leave out something very important, something very crucial to the day.

I feel like what’s really involved in the gaining of one’s independence isn’t acknowledged enough.

People died.  People bled.  People did terrible, terrible things on both sides of the Revolutionary War.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we shouldn’t celebrate the holiday because of this, I just hate how whitewashed everything has become.

What’s become synonymous with cook outs and children running through sprinklers on a hot day was hard-fought, and even harder won by very brave and very strong men and women all doing their part.

Honestly, it just reminds me of the whitewashing of everything in our society lately.  I feel like we’re losing that grit as a people, and I’m starting to notice it in our entertainment first.  Everything is so concerned with being politically correct, and as inoffensive as possible.

Don’t these people realize that they’re condemning the parts of human nature that allowed us to win this country in the first place?  The very parts of us that allow our soldiers to do their best to keep our country free?

This whole discussion makes me think of years ago.  April 4th 2008 to be exact.  I was a freshman at UB at the time, and Stephen Colbert came to campus as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series.  Undergrads got free tickets, so my friends and I were on board to listen to his talk from the moment we heard he was coming.

Granted, he’s a very funny and intelligent man whose brand of humor is something I enjoy very much, but one thing that stuck out was one the answers to his closing questions.

Freem.  That’s what I think we enjoy on July 4th, on our independence day, and frankly I don’t like it.

Despite our country being free, its citizens will never be free of anything unless we get up and DO SOMETHING!

We’re all trapped by something, people.  Whether it be a bad childhood, bad decisions, a medical condition, etc., whatever it is doesn’t matter.  They still tie us down.

If we truly want to live independent lives we have to get out there, put our backs into it and go after what we want, regardless of what it may be.

Then again, what do I know?  I’m just one man, who’ll readily admit to over thinking things regularly.

Regardless of that, I’m just one man who doesn’t ever want to enjoy Freem.  I’d rather have Freedom, where I can do and pursue the things that I want, instead of taking the things given.

Also, before I sign off for the day, much gratitude to ColbertFan86 for having the whole night’s events on Youtube.  Granted, it’s from 2008, but I highly recommend putting on autoplay and enjoying the talk.  I still chuckle about it to this day.

So what do you think?  Agree?  Disagree?  Think I’m nuts?  Whatever you do think, leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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