July 15, 2018

Right Arm—Reconsidering Liberty

Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, 
but also by the abuse of power.     
                                                          —James Madison, fourth President of the United States

Promoting active liberty does not mean allowing the majority to run roughshod over minorities. It calls for taking special care that all groups have a chance 
to fully participate in society and the political process.
                                                     — Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Having just celebrated the 4th of July we took time to recognize the birth of our nation and the concept of liberty. As Madison and the framers of the Constitution stated in the Bill of Rights, liberty means that individuals have rights and that no majority should be able to take them away.

   Right Arm (from Alcatraz Island)

While watching fireworks “bursting in air,” and now with the nomination of a new Supreme Court justice, thoughts of these rights: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a free press, the right of petition, assembly, privacy, due process and equality before the law are worth reconsidering.

Are all US citizens able to “participate in society and the political process,” or is the current majority party seeking to undermine these principles for its own political and financial gain?

In his 2012 presidential nomination acceptance speech Barak Obama reminded the country “that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.”

Right Arm
Taxes ramped up —shots rang out—a revolution began.
No army—no banks—no credit.
The king bowed—the king plundered—treaties hit the deck.

              A right arm was given.

Not for land—not for morality—
from the north and south a cry went out—dignity shackled—
tethered to terror.
An identity struggled to emerge.
Freedom wrestled with dollars.
                      
                  A right arm was given.

An archduke fell—submarines fired—world made safe for democracy.
Pacifists, pessimists, neutralists gathered at the gates of war.
Munitions were drawn—warships were launched—profits were deposited.

                                                                                A right arm was given.


A fleet caught off guard—atrocities emerged—madmen seized the day.
A sleeping giant woke from its slumber.
Power, greed and barbarity rose with the morning sun.
A mushroom cloud left it all in its wake,
foreshadowing the future of a planet in peril.

                                                             A right arm was given.

No battle lines—no common tongue—towers tumbled—gas filled the air.
Ideologies clashed—liberty wrapped itself with suspicion and inherent resolve.
A boat bobbed on the horizon filled with hope for a new day
only to be capsized by fear of the other—
compassion lost in the mist.

                                                                                       A right arm was given.


Jeff Key’s work can also be seen at:

FeedspotTop 50 Contemporary Art Blogs And Websites To Follow in 2018 (Listed at #33)  https://blog.feedspot.com/contemporary_art_blogs/ 

 

Life As a HumanThe Human Interest Magazine for Evolving Minds

/https://lifeasahuman.com/2018/virtual-art-gallery/sculpture/is-there-life-on-mars/



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