I'm sorry, @larkenrose, but you are wrong. You sound more like a petulant child then showing any kind of knowledge of history. The Revolutionary War was not just "some people unhappy about their taxes". It was about something far more important. It was about FREE WILL. It was about open minded, intelligent men understanding that the oppressive rules and outright greed of the British monarchy was going to strip this beautiful country of everything if it was not stopped. We were not EVER seen as part of the historical conglomerate that was the British Empire. We were seen as nothing more than a factory to churn out supplies for everyone else.
The people who came to this land did so to flee persecution at home. Because they were different, whether that difference was race or religion, it didn't matter. The governments in Europe couldn't have cared less. Until it became known that this country was full of natural resources and the native tribes could offer very little in the way of resistance. So they sent the kinds of men that were loyal to the empirical machine to push the refugees out of the way. Which started a cascade of land grabbing and raping of natural resources. All resources were sent back to Britain, or taxed beyond what the colonists could afford. You can only have everything taken from you for so long before you are forced to push back.
Our founders did not fight the British out of some tantrum about money, or some misplaced loyalty to the political machine. On the contrary, they fought for the right to be free of the British yolk. To be able to decide for themselves how things here should be done. Britain is thousands of miles away, what could they possibly have known about the struggles of living in an untamed place like 1700's America?
Have you ever actually READ the Declaration of Independence? I would be very surprised if you have. Let me show you what I mean;
*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.*
source:public domain
You can view the rest of the text here; https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
The flag that you have so obviously despised and maligned has nothing to do with "a parasitical authoritarian monstrosity". Do you even know what the American flag represents?
White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun.
source: public domain
For 241 years this country has opened it's arms and welcomed every other country's sick, tired, oppressed, and poor. When any other government has asked us, we have been there to fight their battles with them and even sometimes FOR them. Yet we are constantly maligned for it. We are treated with disdain and violent hatred. We are responsible for nearly all of the industrial innovation of the last 200 years that every single person on this planet now takes for granted. And quite frankly I am tired of the USA being the worlds kickball. You don't like us, you don't like our military, you don't like our schools (yet you flock to them even to the detriment of our own children), you send your family members here to work and send money home because our dollar is worth more than your currency. You take everything that this country has to offer and STILL you run us down, burn our flag and hate us.
But honestly ask yourself why this is. Could it possibly the fact that despite all of your railing, and venom, the real truth is very simple. You envy us. You envy those same Freedoms that you claim to despise. You envy the creativity, the strength of will, and out right Human Spirit that is part of our short heritage.
It is your right to have your opinion, and I welcome adult conversation and debate. But I will not stand by and watch while people who take everything from this country turn around in the next breath and hate us.
THAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF PATRIOTISM
So happy 4th of July to all of my fellow Americans. Have fun today, stay safe, and celebrate your FREEDOM!
~Tabz
Original post link for those who might want to read it for themselves: https://steemit.com/patriotism/@larkenrose/patriotism-an-abomination
Good post Tabz. The ratio of followers to following in this screenshot tells a story of a person who is not here to be part of the community, but merely to stir things up and sell books.
Thank you @texcentric. I saw so many disparaging posts yesterday that I just couldn't take it anymore. I am one of the first people to admit that our system of government is very flawed at the moment, and our "leaders" right now are a definite embarrassment, but the people of America are still the same good hard working people we have always been. And WE don't deserve the reputation and hatred that the corrupt politicians have given us. But we just can't seem to get rid of them now. And unfortunately that's the only thing the rest of the world sees. They don't see us.