The USA can indeed be a very nice place to be in many respects. Lots of good-hearted people.

What I want to do is quote from Bob Dylan, on the eve of this 4rth of July...

"As I went out one morning
To breathe the air around Tom Paine's
I spied the fairest damsel
That ever did walk in chains
"

Now Bob had a completely different meaning for the "damsel" in mind in the original song (I believe she represented fame, riches, and a host of temptations)..but what those 4 lines have me thinking of now is:

Lady Liberty - the fairest damsel that ever did walk in chains. Still in chains today.

Mother Earth - groaning under the heel of ruthless mercantile expansion and waste of resources, as water and air are poisoned, as topsoil is wasted and destroyed. Still in chains today.

The Goddess aspect of Divinity...ignored and trampled on by mainstream western religions for some thousands of years now. Still in chains today.

White Buffalo Woman - the Christ figure of the Lakota and Cheyenne, who brought civilization to the people of the Great Plains. Her Spirit and Truth still in chains today.

And Tom Paine - splendid, courageous, amazing social visionary...whose words sparked revolutions that cast off the rule of corrupt, complacent monarchs and sent waves of democracy rippling across the world in the 1700's and 1800's and right up to now.

Now when human beings, the very sons and daughters of God, are denigrated as mere "consumers", pawns of industry and advertising...who will re-ignite the torch that Tom Paine set a-blazing all those years ago?

So on this July 4th, let's remember Tom Paine, and let's remember that there are still so many chains that must be broken. Your revolution has only just begun.

- LH