A while back, I was riding my bike, and I had a revelation. A revelation of what "freedom" meant to me. In that moment, on that Saturday, for that hour, I was truly free. I was previously able to get a job of my choosing, previously able to buy a bike of my choosing, and go for a ride at a time of my choosing, along a route of my choosing.
So let us honor and salute those who died on the field of battle, keeping our collective enemy at bay, so that we can have the freedoms we have today.
The freedom to negotiate potential employment myself, without the government telling me where to work. And the freedom to search for better employment opportunities. The freedom to walk off the job without notice if I so choose, without the fear of the government imprisoning me and forcing me to work in the prison laundry.
The freedom to court a potential mate of my choosing, without my family arranging my marriage.
The freedom to buy a house from a private seller, without the government telling me where to live.
The freedom to say things that in at least one other country I would be handed a death sentence for. Specifically, the freedom to blaspheme. My most cherished freedom. The freedom to run my fucking mouth.
The freedom to disagree with my government and the freedom to voice those opinions, without fear of the government silencing me.
The freedom to NOT speak to the government under fear of torture if I think it will incriminate me. The freedom to have counsel in matters of the law, and the freedom to be heard in a court of law if I so choose to make that decision. The freedom to face my accuser and question him or her in a court of law.
The freedom to go to a religious building of my choosing, and also the freedom to abstain from same.
The freedom to take my motorcycle and ride around just for the fuck of it.
The freedom to assemble peacefully with individuals and speak our minds to each other, whether we are just sitting around bullshitting about the hockey game, or debating matters which we don't agree on.
The freedom to purchase a handgun and a rifle, and the freedom to exercise my DUTY to defend my family against all threats, foreign or domestic.
And this might seem.... unimportant. But the freedom to be able to choose between 37 different kinds of mustard at the grocery store for my hotdog.
And, obversely yet equally important, the freedom for the unwashed barbarians to put ketchup on their hotdogs. Though I do not agree with their decision, I would fight to the death for his or her right to defile their hotdog.
So for those that have kicked the shit out of those who would seek to trample our right to live as freely as we do today, and died in the process, so that we may be free from persecution, I fucking thank and salute you.
