Items tagged with: freedom

Items are tagged with a keyword if their content touches on the topic in a significant way or, if the tag is a name, the item has some connection to the name (e.g., a quote, creative participation, location).

I have long had mixed feelings about songs that celebrate my country, and so here I offer alternate lyrics to USA’s national anthem. Although still quite rough, I could wait no longer; I wanted to share it now, on USA’s Independence Day. Here’s the thing: The songs I know are all laud and glory, yet over USA’s gestation and lifetime, there have most certainly been numerous cases in which our […]

Back Side Star-Spangled Banner

Diversity & Exclusion
I have long had mixed feelings about songs that celebrate this country I love, and so here I offer alternate lyrics to USA's national anthem. The USA story is not all laud and glory, but neither is it disdainful at the level some shout and spout. USA's reality is a complicated mix of these two extremes.
Crossing Red Square, I heard two women, clearly mothers, agree that they wanted their children to be happy. The fathers, apparently, wanted the children to be high achievers and that would be fine, said the mothers, so long as. Just then, I tripped over nothing. This would not have been unusual except that spirits don’t trip. The mothers didn’t realize I had bumped into them. They were concerned, the mothers. […]

Mother of Russia

Short Story
Crossing Moscow's Red Square, a wandering mother longs to know about the happiness of a son she has not seen for decades. She listens to others, observes the Square, and seeks to find him.
“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” With these masterful seven words, the founders of the United States of America encapsulated humanity’s unalienable Rights. We may think these words in the US Declaration of Independence grant permission to do whatever we please, but “freedom,” the watchword of US Independence Day, is found nowhere in the document. Nor is there any reference to personal freedom. “Wait,” you say, “‘Liberty’ is the […]

Freedom Ain’t What We Think It Is

Society & Politics
Liberty stands only when my pursuit of Happiness encompasses, with mutual respect, the Life and Happiness of all in society. Otherwise, my liberty has devolved into license; my honor into my debasement.
“I do it myself!” I was taken aback at my little Mary’s forceful demand, so long ago, to tie her own shoes. I was not surprised, really — I had heard similar protests from others’ children — but her intensity caught me out. What had she to worry? I was the grand and great parent: the one who watches over all my wee bairns. All will go right with all […]

Every Little Detail

Flash Fiction
Little Mary's "I do it myself" — a cry for independence and freedom — caught me out. I withdrew, grinning at the image of myself as Kim Jong-il.
BudgetPetWorld — everything for health and happiness of the fuzzy ones Advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <strong><em>BudgetPet<wbr>World</em></strong> — everything for health and happiness of the fuzzy ones