As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me. -Woody Guthrie

When I learned “This Land is Your Land” in elementary school music class, the last three verses were omitted. I heard them for the first time when I was in eighth grade, thanks to my beloved Mr. Springsteen. I didn’t know their significance until well into adulthood, when I started taking an interest in Woody Guthrie. Since he inspired so many of the musicians I love – particularly Bruce Springsteen and Jeff Tweedy – it seemed like I should understand more about Woody than the few verses I’d learned in Miss Ray’s second grade music class.

My primary education in the meaning of “This Land is Your Land” came from the version on Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live: 1975-85 (3CD) in which Bruce discussed the song as a rebel song for the people, essentially Guthrie giving the finger to Capitalism run amok. I’ve been engrossed in this article today, which expounds on those ideas. I mean, they’re pretty obvious, when you consider the last verses that are so often ignored.

These ideas have been at the forefront of my thoughts about this country for the past year for a lot of reasons. It’s no secret that I’m a liberal with a rebellious streak when it comes to government, and I’ve always believed America to be a country founded by rebels who created a system that encourages citizens to rebel when the government oversteps its bounds.

I’m a fan of the signs that say nothing.

Some of the things that have solidified by liberal rebel spirit over the past year:

Last summer I did something I should have done ages ago – I read The Grapes of Wrath and it shook me to my core unlike anything I’ve ever read. Not just because it’s a gut-wrenching story of what life was like for an Okie family during the Great Depression, but because it was so damn close to the way life is for so many people today. How is is that we’ve changed so little? How is it that things have, in some ways, gotten worse? That our entire society seems to hinge not on the actions of individuals, but the decisions of the few who have money and power? I’m not one for heroes, but damn if Ma Joad isn’t one of mine now. Tom Joad’s not too shabby, either.

The illegal immigration issue. It’s touched me and some of my loved ones in a very direct manner in the past year. I wish I could discuss it more, but I won’t because it’s too touchy and too risky and I don’t want to infringe on anyone’s privacy or safety. Suffice it to say that I’ve gotten a glimpse of what it’s like to be an illegal in America, and how fucked up the stereotypes are. I’ve watched people grapple with how their core beliefs about what America should be clash with the reality they’re experiencing. One conversation in particular that went like this:

Him: I just don’t know how to handle this. It’s wrong for them to have to live like this, but they’re breaking the law.
Me: But the law is fucked up. It’s unfair, inhumane and it doesn’t work.
Him: You’re right. But people can’t just go around breaking the law.
Me: Why not? If a law doesn’t work and it’s unfair, how is it ever going to change if people don’t have the guts to break it?

Honestly, I’d never thought of it in those terms until the words came out of my mouth. Had our country’s forebearers not blatantly went against the laws imposed by the British, we wouldn’t have this country. This was a country founded on rebellion and change.

And speaking of change, Obama Obama Obama!!! Please, please tell me you don’t believe the idiotic lies that people try to spread to make him seem like an enemy to America. Yeah, I’d love it if you’d all vote for him, but even if you don’t, at least be informed. On all the candidates and options.

This Fair Shares business. We enrolled in this combined community-supported agriculture program this spring. Every week we get food from local farms and food producers. While I’ve always been a proponent of buying local and supporting small farms and businesses, this experience has made it possible. It’s taught us to roll with the punches, to deal with crops getting rained out, or the sadness that comes when the farmer who grows incredibly tasty lettuce and spinach dies in a tractor accident while doing the work he loves. It makes us appreciate our food a hell of a lot more than we appreciated stuff trucked in from across the country, out of season, and exposed to who knows what. I’m not worried about my tomatoes making my family sick, because I know the farmer who’s got a vested interest in making sure his products are safe. Corporations don’t give a fuck; people do. Like these people. They keep my family fed and I want to do the same for them.

For me, the best way to celebrate our freedom is to engage in our freedom to rebel, and our freedom to change the course we’re on. It’s in living my life the way I choose, and raising my daughter to question authority – even though the authority she questions these days is mine. That’s fine. She’s given me the chance to be a totalitarian and to realize I don’t like it at all.

Happy Independence Day. Listen to Woody before you go watch your fireworks tonight. And some Bruce and Tom Morello, singing about Mr. Joad while you’re at it.

Be a good American. Rebel.