Then, a viewing of 1776, the extended cut!
Then this year we're going to Grand Rapids for fireworks. Last year my parents spoiled me by taking me to the fancy Deerfield Village fireworks display, with a full orchestra and of course the fireworks were right there. So going to Andrew's parents house to watch the fireworks across the lake, with all the low fireworks obscured by trees was just not going to cut it this year. Randomly I heard about this thing the Public Museum of Grand Rapids is doing, where they are open from 7 - 11 pm, with free carousel rides and planetarium shows, and then when the fireworks start on the river you can watch them from indoor, air-conditioned seating or from out on the patio. It had better be awesome.
I know it's a contradiction for me to be a pacifist and anti-war but be so entranced by the American Revolution. I keep joining communities like Facebook's Bill of Rights fan page and then find myself surrounded by libertarians. (A position I just don't understand. I mean, what is the practical difference between libertarianism and anarchy? And under anarchy, what's to even nominally stop the rule of the rich, the powerful, and the corporations? I don't get it.) Perhaps someday I will find some way to reconcile these two beliefs within myself, the way that the book God After Darwin finally gave me the tools to reconcile my "evolution explains everything" belief and my need to experience religion through the lens of Christianity. Perhaps. We'll see. I don't think there's as big a market for pacifists who love the revolution as for Christians who believe in evolution. Despite the nice resonances in that sentence.
Profile
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
greeniezona- Jen
Comments
And now, some blathering all because you said the word "anarchy."
If I had to align myself with a political philosophy, it would definitely be Anarchism. But what anarchism means varies a lot from person to person or anarchist subset to subset.
People tend to say "anarchy" and mean chaos, but the philosophy of anarchy is focused on individual responsibility and rejection of hierarchy and power systems. You will be held more accountable by your fellow humans to take care of yourself, your neighbors, the planet, and so on by the philosophy of anarchism than by the philosophy of capitalism or communism or socialism or etc.
People who believe that humans are essentially "bad" (meaning greedy, violent, destructive, etc.) will think of the idea of not being governed and controlled by a power system as a descent into 24/7 murder, rape, and explosions.
I don't happen to be one of those people. Since I see "goodness" (meaning creativity, willingness to share, desire to nurture, etc.) in just about every person on earth, I much prefer the idea of empowering each individual to be personally responsible for creating their lives and communities to the idea of select groups of the elite ruling and controlling the rest of us.
I am sympathetic to many aspects of Libertarianism, because it shares some things with my own way of thinking. But there is a weird culture of...jerkiness? that runs through libertarian communities. That's been my experience, at least. It tends to be very focused on rebellion against the system to the exclusion of creation of new ways of life. At least that's what I've seen.
I'm sure we could say much more on these matters!
But instead - have a great holiday and enjoy the aerial explosions! :)