The Fourth of July used to be one of my favorite holidays.
We would get together with family and friends, eat hot dogs and burgers, and spend way too much money on fireworks. Now the holiday has a different meaning to me. It reminds me that freedom is a fragile lie that we Americans have been taught is the bedrock of our country.
Spoiler alert: it is not.
America’s foundation is made of sand, built on a justice system so corrupt and broken that it destroys lives in the name of “justice.” It locks people away as a “deterrent” and profits from mass incarceration. It is the epitome of propaganda.
I haven’t seen fireworks in nearly two years. So when I think of fireworks today, I don’t envision the beautiful explosions of light and sound I once experienced. Instead, I see the lives and freedom that have been detonated by bad actors in the justice system.
Freedom Is More Fragile Than You Think
This Fourth of July, as you celebrate your freedom, remember how fragile it really is.
A single mistake, a bad decision, a horrible accident, or a mental break — and it can be snatched away. You, like hundreds of thousands of other Americans, could be locked in a box, stripped of dignity, stolen from your family, and forced to sit in an oppressive cell or dorm-style room, listening to the booms of everyone else celebrating the freedom you no longer have.
All in the Name of “Justice”
The holiday that is supposed to mark freedom from tyranny now marks something else entirely for hundreds of thousands of Americans — and for the families, children, and communities they have been taken from.
The system that holds them does not call itself tyranny. It calls itself justice. It calls it deterrence. It calls it public safety. But the people inside it, and the people who love them, experience something different. They experience the full weight of a machine that profits from their presence and has very little interest in their return.
