Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
'Cause there's a million things to be
You know that there are
And if you want to be free, be free
'Cause there's a million things to be
You know that there are
Cat Stevens - If You Want to Sing Out
This formerly great nation of ours just celebrated its official 243rd birthday just the other day-that is, it's 243rd year of independence from Britain. While most Americans continue to celebrate this holiday with a nationalistic fervor, many are realizing that we, legally speaking anyway, are not as free as we formerly thought. For example, the legal definition of a 'license', loosely speaking, is 'permission to do something which is otherwise illegal'. One doesn't have to think very hard to make a ( growing ) list of everything we 'need' a license for these days! It's 'the American Dream' to own your own bit of 'Heaven', but if you don't pay your rent ( taxes, etc ), just see how long you hold onto your 'dream'. One can barely even make any improvements on said property ( house OR land ) without first acquiring the 'necessary' permits ( permission ) for said improvements. Unfortunately, the majority of Americans, complaining about taxes ( etc ) all the while, can't seem to put two & two together, failing thusly to realize that much of what our Founding Fathers fought, bled & even died for has been slowly gushing down the drain! There are many 'freedoms' we still enjoy in this 'great' nation, but for how long & at what cost?!
The Founding Fathers, with their carefully thought out documents ( Declaration of Independence, Constitution ( a while later ) & Bill of Rights ( even later ), knew they weren't granting us any rights or freedoms; in fact, they wrote thusly ( along with other reasons ) to guarantee our inalienable rights & freedoms in preparation for what they saw looming on the horizon; the proposed 'rule' of the majority by an elite minority, which is what we have now. Those who are supposed to be governing FOR us ( in our place ) seem to have gotten it into their heads that they're governing US! As our indentured servants ( to use archaic language ), they're supposed to be subservient to us & instead, as it turns out, we're actually serving them, having created something called a 'career politician'. We hold 'elections' for them every year or so, to keep the illusion going that we actually have a voice still in who gets to be be 'set for life'. Legally speaking, we seem to be loosing more of our natural rights every day. But not really.............
Whether one is a Christian or a Pagan, Jewish or Islamic, we should ALL realize that we are not granted the right to 'Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness'; those rights, as human beings, are part of our very nature! What the majority fail to realize, though, is that we, as more than human, are thus more than our rights; in other words, when 'they' trample on our rights; they're not really doing US any harm, it's just a battle of Egos ( whose is stronger? ). The Ego has no rights ( that's where the 'illusion' comes in ), but since most people have been taught from day one that they ARE the Ego, the Person, this is the prevailing theory & thus, we have what we have; a disproportionate battle of Egos, where the greater the Ego, the better chance of winning & being 'set for life'!
'Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness' are a 'given'; if you're a human being, you HAVE those rights! The above-mentioned ( Founding ) Documents simply enumerated & reiterated those rights. Through them, the Founding Fathers strove to guarantee & protect those rights, but personally speaking, greed & the lust for power got in the way; those documents proved their worth. The Ego proved stronger than a mere document & Americans ( at least, the average Joe ) began to loose their rights. Again, humanly speaking, those rights can neither be given OR taken away, but legally speaking ( egoically, one might note ), they are slowly disappearing down the drain of human consciousness!
The ( personal ) Ego tells us that we have the right ( which IS correct ) to 'Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness', although we should know that we ARE those things! 'As above, so below';: we don't need a piece of paper or even our Ego telling us that we HAVE those rights: all we hafta do is just BE! If we harm none, we can do what we will! No one but the Ego will tell us otherwise, whether it be ours or theirs. Speaking of the Ego ( as we must ): it is what tells us that THIS makes us Happy, THAT is what Life & Liberty look like, but that is only illusion; only we, in our true, inner nature ARE Happiness; WE are Life & Liberty itself! We don't need any Ego, theirs or ours, to tell us that we have these rights; we should know to just BE, but sadly, the majority, for whatever reason, do not realize this glorious Reality!
While the fore-mentioned documents were meant to protect ( guarantee? ) our rights as human beings, they only serve that purpose as far as the Ego is concerned. Our 'rights', as above, are part of our very nature, inseparable & inalienable. We are, by nature, More than mere human beings: as such then, being spiritual in nature ( part of the Source ) we can only exercise those rights as human beings, through the ( personal ) Ego. We should not allow the Ego, however, theirs or ours, to dictate whether we will or even can exercise our natural 'rights'. When we allow the Ego to rule our actions, then Greed & the Lust for Power crop up & that is what causes fights & wars among ( in ) us!
When we realize, as many have begun to do, that we are NOT our Ego, with that realization will come the freedom to just BE! Wars, both within & without, will cease, for we will have begun to understand that, in order to enjoy our rights, we do not have to take a stand; we do not need to fight anyone for them: we must not fear lest they are taken from us. Now, on a personal level, lest some accuse me of dreaming of some fanciful Utopia; I'm not saying that this will happen anytime in the near future, if at all, but with the Ego put in its place, so to speak, people will no longer be ruled by it, but will live as they ARE, as Life, Liberty & Happiness!
Charles Haddon Shank
Whether one is a Christian or a Pagan, Jewish or Islamic, we should ALL realize that we are not granted the right to 'Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness'; those rights, as human beings, are part of our very nature! What the majority fail to realize, though, is that we, as more than human, are thus more than our rights; in other words, when 'they' trample on our rights; they're not really doing US any harm, it's just a battle of Egos ( whose is stronger? ). The Ego has no rights ( that's where the 'illusion' comes in ), but since most people have been taught from day one that they ARE the Ego, the Person, this is the prevailing theory & thus, we have what we have; a disproportionate battle of Egos, where the greater the Ego, the better chance of winning & being 'set for life'!
'Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness' are a 'given'; if you're a human being, you HAVE those rights! The above-mentioned ( Founding ) Documents simply enumerated & reiterated those rights. Through them, the Founding Fathers strove to guarantee & protect those rights, but personally speaking, greed & the lust for power got in the way; those documents proved their worth. The Ego proved stronger than a mere document & Americans ( at least, the average Joe ) began to loose their rights. Again, humanly speaking, those rights can neither be given OR taken away, but legally speaking ( egoically, one might note ), they are slowly disappearing down the drain of human consciousness!
The ( personal ) Ego tells us that we have the right ( which IS correct ) to 'Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness', although we should know that we ARE those things! 'As above, so below';: we don't need a piece of paper or even our Ego telling us that we HAVE those rights: all we hafta do is just BE! If we harm none, we can do what we will! No one but the Ego will tell us otherwise, whether it be ours or theirs. Speaking of the Ego ( as we must ): it is what tells us that THIS makes us Happy, THAT is what Life & Liberty look like, but that is only illusion; only we, in our true, inner nature ARE Happiness; WE are Life & Liberty itself! We don't need any Ego, theirs or ours, to tell us that we have these rights; we should know to just BE, but sadly, the majority, for whatever reason, do not realize this glorious Reality!
While the fore-mentioned documents were meant to protect ( guarantee? ) our rights as human beings, they only serve that purpose as far as the Ego is concerned. Our 'rights', as above, are part of our very nature, inseparable & inalienable. We are, by nature, More than mere human beings: as such then, being spiritual in nature ( part of the Source ) we can only exercise those rights as human beings, through the ( personal ) Ego. We should not allow the Ego, however, theirs or ours, to dictate whether we will or even can exercise our natural 'rights'. When we allow the Ego to rule our actions, then Greed & the Lust for Power crop up & that is what causes fights & wars among ( in ) us!
When we realize, as many have begun to do, that we are NOT our Ego, with that realization will come the freedom to just BE! Wars, both within & without, will cease, for we will have begun to understand that, in order to enjoy our rights, we do not have to take a stand; we do not need to fight anyone for them: we must not fear lest they are taken from us. Now, on a personal level, lest some accuse me of dreaming of some fanciful Utopia; I'm not saying that this will happen anytime in the near future, if at all, but with the Ego put in its place, so to speak, people will no longer be ruled by it, but will live as they ARE, as Life, Liberty & Happiness!
Charles Haddon Shank
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