“Isn’t it ironic…”

I loved this song back in college. My girlfriends and I played this as a pre-game song before we headed out to the bars. We swore we sounded as good as Alanis. I knew all the words back then, but didn’t have a lot of life experiences to be able to personally relate. I still remember every word, it’s only now at 45 years old that I can identify a personal connection. Those lyrics, “Isn’t it ironic” have never been more true for me than right now.

I have always loved the 4th of July. Primarily because of the incredible celebration my hometown has always hosted. I have only missed a handful of 4th’s at home and have yet to find a better place to celebrate. The college in the town provides an incredible fireworks show and hosts a block party that attracts people from towns that are 30 miles away. There is an incredible Farmer’s Market on the village green, filled with various foods and craft vendors. My favorite tradition is the parade. My whole family has marched in the parade in some fashion throughout the years so it holds many warm memories. It’s pretty much a “Norman Rockwell” type setting, its charming and home.

I traveled home again this year to introduce my now adult, step-kids to the whole shebang. They enjoyed the 21+ block party and got a kick out of the parade. It was another great year celebrating our countries freedom from tyranny. Let’s just say that this year I was a phony, I was a hypocrite. I enjoyed participating in all the shenanigans with my friends and family, but not for one second did I feel free from tyranny. It was my first Independence day that I felt shame and disappointment in being an American.

I, we, are NOT free from tyranny. If anything our “freedoms” are being cherry picked away right before our eyes and no one seems to care. I am shocked that more people cannot see the bigger picture through the blatant censorship within Amazon, Facebook, etc, and the continued chipping away of EVERYONE’s first amendment right. It should not matter if the subject concerns vaccines, religion, LGBTQ, freedom is freedom. The idea that the Government wants to control medical decisions for people is terrifying. We have allowed too much control already and we certainly are not benefiting from it, we’re paying for it, with our health and for some, their lives. There has never been better proof on the results of what our government has done when it comes to concern with public health. We see clearly what the government has done with our food system- we lead the world in obesity, heart disease and diabetes. We can clearly see what our government has done with our health care system- even with consuming 80% of the world’s medications, we lead the world with illness, disease and death. We are not getting healthier, we are getting sicker by the day. We are jumping behind the government who is forcing vaccinations on people to prevent diseases that once were deadly, but now have mild recovery processes. Instead, we choose to ignore the FACT that the fluoride that we once thought was beneficial, is actually a neurotoxin. A known neurotoxin, yet we still promote it as beneficial, and add it to the water we drink, the toothpaste we brush with and cleaning supplies(??). We know that aluminum is also a neurotoxin and carcinogen. Its linked to Alzheimers, breast cancer, kidney disease and bone disease in children. The FDA allows aluminum in cosmetics, food additives, medications, vaccines, and water, and deems them “generally safe”. (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 2008. Toxicological profile for Aluminum. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.)

Isn’t it ironic, that amidst all the oppressive and tryannical desicions our government has and will continue to make, that I feel more free than ever? My government took away my child’s first amendment right, he is banned from receiving his right to a public education, and is forced to pave a new path for his education. Even with this “punishment” for not following laws that violate our religious beliefs, I have never felt more free. I am now free to create an education that fosters my child’s individual learning needs. I am free to expand on the limited/abbreviated true history that is taught in public school. I am free to implement the application of what is being taught into real life. I am free to teach him about what informed consent is, and to never just settle for what he is told.

I am free even through oppression because I choose the truth. No laws or punishment will cause me to yield. Freedom only comes from truth, not because we are told we are in songs or our constitution.

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing, obsolete.”——Buckminster Fuller

Much love and respect.

Xo-e