Declaration Of Independence From The Corporate States Of America

When a government is no longer capable of, or interested in. representing the rights and interests of its citizens, then it is time for the citizens of that nation to begin the process of disentangling themselves from that government. When the interests of that government are more aligned with institutions and its own self-preservation than it is with actual human beings, when the government begins to act not only against the interest of the people but the standing of the country in the world, the betterment of humanity and the very planet that we need to sustain life, it is necessary for the people to once again gain control of their own destiny until institutions more capable of serving us can be created.

It is a task we do not undertake lightly, but one that is necessary for not only the good of our children but perhaps their very survival. Like the patriots of the past who would have preferred to live out their lives peacefully tilling their own land, we have encountered weeds in our political fields too troublesome to be left to grow. While in no way claiming ourselves equal to the men who founded this country, we nevertheless feel obliged to honor their memory in attempting to follow in their footsteps, to meet as best we can the trials that confront the times we are living in.

We can learn much from looking back on those who, two hundred and forty-six years ago, attempted such an ambitious undertaking, not only from their successes and their failures but by the very fact that they were limited persons who, though they valiantly strove to reach beyond it, were nevertheless products of their times. We must understand that we too are limited by the times and environment we were born into, and yet at the same time we must appreciate the greatness that is latent in us when we seek to be better than we are. We must hope that we can inspire in others through daring deeds and lofty thoughts the same kind of inspiration that they have inspired in so many. It does not matter that we fall short so much as we make the attempt. To fall short is not the greater crime, failing to try is.

We do not stand at the crossroads, rather we have walked far enough along a path to realize it is time to blaze a new trail. There is no crossroads, no simple choice we can make except the choice to strike out in a direction that hitherto was either unimagined or deemed too unrealistic. It is only because we see no clear path that we have clung to the one we are on for so long. But at some point, and that point has been reached, we must risk the unknown, trusting to our values and better natures without seeing clearly where our destination lies.

The road we are on now, the one laid out for us by our institutions and our so-called leaders, does not lead us where we need to go. This road will never lead us to the promised land but rather to annihilation, whether it be from war or environmental destruction. The road we travel distances us from our past, from the teachings of our parents and our forefathers. It leads away from the life-affirming values that have been universally adopted in all civilizations in more or less the same fashion.

Timeless values have been corrupted, besmirched, or forgotten.

Truth has fallen to marketing, advertisement, and political rhetoric. We are now no longer able to find truth in the political discussions of the day: indeed, it seems foolish even to look for it. We can no longer accept a political environment where the search for truth has become an impossibility. We must build a framework wherein the pursuit of truth, that ever elusive and yet shimmering promise, is not only possible but encouraged.

Justice has become just another product on the shelves, available to those with enough money to purchase it. Laws are written not by elected officials but by those who contribute to their campaign funds.

Brotherhood and community have been replaced by marketplace connections where dollars not people interact and determine our relationship with one another. Our deepest desires and needs as human beings are being subverted and are being replaced by material possessions that serve as status markers more than sources of satisfaction. Mothers and fathers are too soon taken from their infants and forced back into jobs that give no meaning to their lives.

As our current systems pit American against American in a savage struggle for whatever scraps fall from the powerful institutions’ table of feasting, so too do such institutions tear us away from those in other countries who share a common humanity with us. The United States Of America must once again become a citizen of the world, participating democratically and in partnership rather than through economic and military violence.

Wars are fought for vague reasons far from our borders. They are not asked for by the populace. No small town American ever gets the idea that we need to kill people in countries they will never visit and know nothing about. Such ideas are put inside their heads by a government that acts on the will of unaccountable agencies with agendas that are in no way sympathetic to the citizenry.

Our institutions have become tyrants over us, and we for too long have permitted them to rule us instead of serve us. We must again make this a nation of the people, for the people, by the people. We need to become humans again, to explore the infinite possibilities of what being human means. We must slough off the roles that have been placed upon us by corporate and political institutions, remind ourselves that our ultimate obligation is not to an external force but to an inner compulsion. We must free ourselves, and in doing so we must realize the obligation we have to our fellow man.

Freedom from unaccountable and self-serving institutions begins now. It begins with a declaration that we, the citizens of The United States Of America, are determined to regain control of the direction our country is headed, that we are both capable of and willing to plot our own course.

This is a radical shift, but it is only a declaration of intention. The act of realizing this intention will be slow and subtle, but we cannot deny the efficacy nor forget our purpose. This will not be a violent revolution but a revolution of hope, of faith, of love. Prior revolutions have begun in bloodshed and bring further bloodshed. Our way along this revolutionary path will often be slow and halting only because we are unfamiliar walking upon such a path. But the way has been marked out by those who have gone before. And with the constant practice of peaceful and loving change we will come to see its power, come to know how it can best be used.

Before the first step is taken, we must begin with a few moral precepts. We must recognize the path is not only worth taking but most likely necessary.

We must break from the limits set by the two-party system and the corporate media and we must do it now. We must grab the reigns of the destiny of humanity from those who would seek to lead us off a cliff because they cannot or will not see the common good but only their own narrow self-interests.

We must cease to give to demanding institutions the authority that we the people alone possess. We must now claim and use the powers that were first granted to us in the original Declaration of Independence.

The way will be long and require patience as we slowly make our way through territory that has only ever been seen clearly by those few who have been to the mountaintop. But we must continue to search through the wilderness with faith that the promised land lies beyond. And yet while we must allow the path to reveal itself, we must also be aware that our journey is an urgent one. If we permit ourselves the thought that the cause is great and just and beautiful, then the desire for it will allow us to stick to the cause, will both impel us forward while counseling prudence when our feet wish to carry us too far into the unknown.

And yet it will require radical actions. To divest ourselves from the current political and economic structures, we will need to adhere to basic principles and have them guide us in all our endeavors. Those principles are:

-Refusing to buy what we do not need. Refusing to do business with powerful corporate structures when we can do business with an individual or small groups of individuals.

-Refusing to find justifications for hatred.

-Continuing to communicate with our fellow man without the intercessors of corporate media or government.

-To never permit the use of “I was following orders”, “I was just doing my job”, etc., as acceptable excuses or ways of thinking. This negates the power of the individual. If you permit the institution to be more powerful than you, you have ceased to become a human and instead become a tool for something that is antithetical to humanity.

The most radical acts we can take are: refusing to hate, continuing to listen to our fellow man without the intercessors of corporate media, refusing to buy what we do not need, refusing to work when we do not need the money,

Do not buy. Do not consume. Work close to home, buy a small home. Buy used, waste nothing. Want less.

Eat locally, in season. Support local farmers and local businesses. Start a co-op.

Do not use pesticides. Consume fewer animals.

Build communities. Know your neighbor.

Refuse to hate, seek to understand. Know that others feel the same as you.

This is the way to independence. This is the only way people are capable of achieving independence from governments and corporations.