Americans Don't Know WHY We Celebrate the 4th of July

[ForTehNguyen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkFDcX_72c

[MountainRaven]

I'm not sure what country we declared independence from in 1976.

I'm also not sure when Jesse Ventura signed the declaration of independence.

:confused:

For the rest of the questions...

:suicide:

[Army Chief]

Does this bring anyone in particular to mind?


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.


Source: The Declaration of Independence, 1776 (in reference to King George III of England).

AC

[Belloc]

Does this bring anyone in particular to mind?



Source: The Declaration of Independence, 1776 (in reference to King George III of England).

AC

A few people actually, but also one in particular.


The Right to Happiness.
http://sultanknish.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/the-right-to-happiness.html

[Grand58742]

Does this bring anyone in particular to mind?



Source: The Declaration of Independence, 1776 (in reference to King George III of England).

AC

Here's a few other selected passages that I bolded for reference:


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 harrass 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 benefits 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.

The more things change...

[Cagemonkey]

Here's a few other selected passages that I bolded for reference:



The more things change...Good Job. Every American should read the Declaration of Independence as part of their 4th celebration/observance.

[Grand58742]

Good Job. Every American should read the Declaration of Independence as part of their 4th celebration/observance.

I personally would have worded it this way:


Good Job. Every American should read the Declaration of Independence and actually understand it applies to them just as much today as it did 237 years ago.

Unfortunately Patriotism is a dying attribute for many in this nation and many have no idea why we even signed the Declaration in the first place. We've come full circle in my opinion, led from tyranny to form our own nation by the brave few that dared defy a king and have come back to the same tyrannical mess in which we started.

Yeah, I'm a downer today...

[austinN4]

Unfortunately Patriotism is a dying attribute for many in this nation and many have no idea why we even signed the Declaration in the first place.
My belief is that this is at least partly due to the very small number of people in our country that have performed any kind of national service.

As to the people being interviewed in the video, they are both ignorant and stupid, which is far too common today in the USA.

[Cagemonkey]

I personally would have worded it this way:



Unfortunately Patriotism is a dying attribute for many in this nation and many have no idea why we even signed the Declaration in the first place. We've come full circle in my opinion, led from tyranny to form our own nation by the brave few that dared defy a king and have come back to the same tyrannical mess in which we started.

Yeah, I'm a downer today...Dude. I feel your pain. Today should be a day of reflection regarding what we have become vs what we were suppose to be.

[Endur]

Each and everyone of those people need to be choked out. :suicide2:

[J-Dub]

Mark Dice is awesome, a true patriot pointing out what fluoride, poor education, gmo/fast food/edible garbage, and pop culture do to people's brains........

turn it to mush.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Mark Dice is awesome, a true patriot pointing out what fluoride, poor education, gmo/fast food/edible garbage, and pop culture do to people's brains........

turn it to mush.

Yeap, he always has good vids. I don't know if I should :lol: or :suicide: . . .

[montanadave]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest if you were to walk around the colonies in 1776 or 1787 and interview a bunch of average joes, you'd find they were just as clueless about what the **** was going on.

History demonstrates there have always been figures of great historical significance who effected great change, people who participated in these events and closely observed the outcomes, and an overwhelmingly large percentage of the population that woke up the next morning and wondered, "What the **** just happened?"

[RMiller]

Sad....just sad...:(

[gun71530]

Absolutely pathetic...

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

[Mauser KAR98K]

I just got done watching this great documentary called, "Idiocracy." I was going to watch the OPs youtube vid...but Ow, My Balls is on. That takes presidents.

[Endur]

I just got done watching this great documentary called, "Idiocracy." I was going to watch the OPs youtube vid...but Ow, My Balls is on. That takes presidents.

That movie is funny but an oddly eerie truth.

[Mauser KAR98K]

That movie is funny but an oddly eerie truth.

Oddly, I think I only laughed once through it. Truth sucks and isn't funny.

[SteyrAUG]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest if you were to walk around the colonies in 1776 or 1787 and interview a bunch of average joes, you'd find they were just as clueless about what the **** was going on.


While clueless morons aren't a new invention or anything I think you are way out on that limb.

I suspect that well into the late 19th century everyone knew what the 4th of July was about, just as people then knew very well what Decoration day was and people in the early 20th century knew very well what Armistice Day was.

They would of course become Memorial Day and Veterans Day and with the passing of generations who could directly identify with the Civil War and World War I they became more generic and less understood and appreciated.

It has gotten to the point where you might as well call the 4th "Fireworks Day" and Memorial Day "Cookout Day."

[Moose-Knuckle]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest if you were to walk around the colonies in 1776 or 1787 and interview a bunch of average joes,

We live in the information age . . . everyone is plugged in most of the day to a computer, tablet, smartphone, some tech gizmo of some sort and with cable news networks blaring 24/7 365 days a year. There is no excuse for ignorance this day in age.

[Moose-Knuckle]

I just got done watching this great documentary called, "Idiocracy." I was going to watch the OPs youtube vid...but Ow, My Balls is on. That takes presidents.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/AKS-74/brawndo_zps8392e214.jpg (http://s10.photobucket.com/user/AKS-74/media/brawndo_zps8392e214.jpg.html)

[montanadave]

I suppose some of my ambivalence regarding this issue is the blurring of the line between nationalism and patriotism. While I am fully in support of instilling people with a sense of patriotism, I have little use for the jingoistic nationalism which frequently substitutes for a true appreciation and respect for the ideals on which this nation was founded.

Most people are motivated to learn more about subjects which are relevant in their daily lives. In the current political environment, how many here feel completely disconnected from a political system and civil government which seems almost totally disconnected from the populace, run by elected officials beholden to special interests and bureaucrats operating in a vacuum where they are insulated from the real-world implications of the policies they impose?

A lot of people feel their government is unresponsive to their needs and aspirations. And, not surprisingly, they have lost interest in the process and, by extension, the historical foundations which established that system.

For many years, we elected members to Congress with one primary mission: "Go to Washington and bring home the bacon." Is it any wonder we have generations of Americans who adopted the same attitude? The so-called "Free Shit Army." Their interest in civic and political affairs begins and ends with "what's in it for me?"

And don't misinterpret my remarks. I think the failure to understand the principles on which this nation was founded, as well as the historical crucible in which these principles were forged, is tragic.

We also do this nation a disservice when one political party or another seeks to "own" the founding fathers and the principles which formed this nation. The debates between our political leadership 250 years ago was every bit as contentious as the differences of opinion we have today. That tension is what makes the system work. But it is a dynamic tension, requiring ebb and flow. Like a violin string, the proper tension produces the true note. Too loose, no sound. Too tight, the string breaks. And therein lies the problem we are witnessing today in the paralysis of our political system. Both sides winding the string tighter and tighter, refusing to compromise, and leading us towards a catastrophic failure.

But I ain't ready to through in the towel. As Leonard Cohen wrote:

"I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHI9BTpGkp8

[Army Chief]

Dave,

Although I am fairly sure that you're at least as much of a lunkhead as the rest of us, I can't help but observe that your contributions to this thread strike me as downright insightful, and full of relevant perspective.

Were these posts added from a Holiday Inn Express, perhaps? ;)

AC