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COMMON GROUND - 07/02/2008
(by Anita Yarossi - OpEd Columnist - July 01, 2008)
Independence Day - Think Global
Friday is Independence Day. This day, which commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Colonies’ formal separation from England and the beginning of the Revolutionary War, is the most patriotic holiday that we celebrate as a nation.
The Declaration of Independence was a supreme act of defiance in its intent to overhaul a government that was destructive and tyrannized its people with such acts as taxation without representation, limiting and preventing free trade, suspension of trial by jury, the removal of charters, abolishing laws, and altering fundamental forms of government.
We have come a long way in these 232 years, with Britain being one of, if not our strongest ally and world’s economies inherently linked by the constant flow of commerce beyond national boundaries into a truly global sphere.
But now I think we suffer a different sort of tyranny in a scope that most of us don’t really comprehend. Like the unstable foundation of a child’s construction of building blocks, we are watching what one aspect – the price and movement of oil – can do to dismantle our entire economy.
The escalation of the price of oil by nearly 100 percent in one year has affected the stability and cost of everything – food, heating, transportation, manufacturing, building, automobile purchases, mobility, leisure activities, infrastructure, investments and savings. So in the most basic sense it has radically changed our path towards our inalienable rights – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as defined in the Declaration of Independence.
And while it is true that as a country we do not suffer political tyranny, genocide and war on our soil, our involvement in the war in Iraq reminds us every day how quickly this can escalate and how impossibly difficult it is to unravel from such a commitment.
Our intent to take out Saddam Hussein and our interest in the outcome of the political stability and the human rights of that country has much to do with the oil it possesses, as well as that of the other oil producing nations in that area.
Every day the pundits argue about the reasons for the dramatic increase in the cost of oil. Some say it has to do with supply; some say it has to do with speculation. Regardless, its outcome has a vice-like grip on our economy and well being. And all the good and necessary efforts at greening up our economy will not change its crippling effects in the short term. Regardless of who gets into the White House in the beginning of 2009, we won’t see this go away anytime soon.
So just as our forefathers had the courage to stand up and alter the government that was taking from its citizens their means to thrive, it is our patriotic duty to bring to task our elected officials in the effort to take control of this runaway, profit-driven shakedown of our economy.
There needs to be laws and fines on the windfall profits; there needs to be required investment in clean energy alternatives that can be instituted quickly; there needs retooling to that effort and real conservation. There need to be multilateral, global approaches to energy usage and energy sharing if we are all to survive the booming economies in Asia and booming populations on those continents.
When I look at the number of large SUVs and enormous homes that proliferate in this area, I ask why and to what purpose are these continuing to be built. They ultimately drain the economy.
It is seems to be based on what some of us consider our inalienable rights of consumption. Those days are gone folks, and if we are not careful, we will outsize ourselves like the dinosaurs that became too big for their brains. Independence means self-reliance, which requires both initiative and discipline. Are you ready to stand up for that?
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