Journal Entry July 1st 2011

Journal Entry July 1^st 2011

By Robert Oliver

                What does July the 4^th mean to you? What would our founding fathers think about how we celebrate our freedom today? I’m not sure they would all agree with the way things have become. I think we as a Society have forgotten the basics of what our freedom is all about. We celebrate today, but do we all understand what we are celebrating? I don’t think so.  Many Americans take for granted the freedoms we all enjoy as a right. It is NOT a right, but something many have given their lives for. It is something that we enjoy in this country, and not something that many other countries have. We should never take for granted the liberties and freedoms we enjoy. Stop for a moment and think about all the different countries in the world who dream about the liberties we enjoy. One prime example is Libya. I know about Libya due to the fact that I lived there from 1966 to 1974. I was their when Col. Kaddafi took over in a coup. At first he seemed ok, the kind of change the country needed.  But very quickly that changed. When we left in 1974 it was because we had absolutely no freedoms at all. It was a military dictator state.

                So what does this tell you? It says that people around the world are fighting for their freedoms, that what we enjoy every day and take for granted, many are giving their lives for.   They are trying to become like this still great country of ours. We must NEVER take for granted the freedoms and liberties we enjoy daily here in the U.S.A. Remember, what we enjoy today are the results of great sacrifice by many individuals throughout our history.