Declaring Your Indepdendence

July 4, 2007 · Comments

What’s true of the American Revolution was that it was a movement carried inside the hearts and minds of the people instead of a geographical condition. It wasn’t that the taxes on tea in Boston started this. It wasn’t that a group of angry citizens in Concord started this. The country was comprised of quite a few people who harbored the same idea: that THEY chose to be in control of their own destiny, such as it were.

(Sure there are tons more political, economical, and sociological reasons thrown in here, but would you at least grant that the spirit of it all is the notion that we were choosing our independence from sovereign rule?)

Your Own Independence

In the case of your job, declare your independence from blindly following the role you’ve been given. Decide instead that you are intelligent enough to build a career for yourself instead of waiting for others to build it for you. Declare yourself in control of how you support and contribute to your current role, and decide whether you should be setting sail for a new world role.

In the case of the media you consume, declare your independence from mainstream television, radio, and print. Make the extra effort to build a balanced measure of opinions from disparate sources such that you might better interpret the story with an eye towards the bias that exists. Discover a better mix of how much media you consume overall, freeing up time for you to make your own, whatever form that may take.

In your day to day life, declare independence from the habits and “that’s just the way it is” thoughts that drive your behavior. Examine everything as if it were a foreign King flexing unjust muscle against what’s truly best for you and those around you. Are you as healthy as you’d like to be? Have you tackled your debt? There’s an entire system designed around the notion of keeping you poor, sedentary, and unfocused. Fight back. Take a stand and move yourself into the status of someone who has declared themselves independent from following the norm around them.

The Shot Heard Round the World

For many years before April 19, 1775, people gathered and grumbled and complained about things being unfair. Several times, people agreed that something should happen against all this. The Boston Tea Party was in December of 1773, meaning that even then, when the momentum was at a fever pitch, the war for Independence didn’t start in earnest for almost another two years.

At least not in full action.

Before that point, people’s minds churned with ideas. Pamphlets flew. Meetinghouses rang with the community-spread notions going around that something wasn’t right and there were ways to deal with it. But none of this meant action, and least of all, concerted effort that might stand to make a difference. Remember, an uprising is only as good as its results.

So in the end, I’m reminding you to make your intentions known, but follow them with action. Choose to declare independence, but then make yourself the “shot heard round the world.”

And for my non-US friends, happy Wednesday. I still think the lessons apply.

And if you want to read the US Declaration of Independence, it makes for good July 4th reading.

Photo credit, Chris in Philly

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  • Jon & Chris, there isn't any speculation involved. The US flag was almost IDENTICAL to the BEIC flag. This can't be taken lightly. Especially in those days of yore, a flag was a symbol - of who you were as a people and what you stood for. And the Founding Fathers of the United States selected, as their first flag, the flag of the British East India Company, an extremely corrupt and malignant organisation. It begs the question - why? One minute they are dumping BEIC's tea into the water, the next they are taking their flag as their own? You can't easily dismiss it.
  • Jon & Cameron, that was exactly the point I was trying to make with my "uncertain flag anecdote" comment. Had I said "speculative flag anecdote" perhaps I would have been more clear.

    I was in a hurry to get to a 4th of July party. :)

    Besides which, even if it is true, it is hardly proof that the East India Company was driving the bus of the revolution. They were chaotic times. With no official flag existing people wanted to show their defiance by flying something, anything, other than the Union Jack.

    Being a land of merchants and traders perhaps someone had a BEIC flag (which apparently wasn't allowed to be flown outside the Indian Ocean) handy and hoisted it to thumb their noses at the British in Boston.

    Because the article Carmeron pointed to is speculative itself there is no way of knowing for sure.
  • Jon
    Cameron,

    I'm basing this solely on the Wikipedia entry you cite, but it seems you might want to read that source a bit more carefully.

    The entry states that the Grand Union flag was *possibly inspired* by the BEIC flag, not that it was a part-and-parcel adoption of said flag (and the implied corporate sponsorship).

    An interesting bit of trivia, sure, but it's hardly proof or even significant evidence that the American fight for independence was motivated by a corporation.
  • @Chris Cree
    While I'm not going to claim the BEIC story is official history, it has always struck me as interesting that a new nation would adopt the flag of the company they were supposedly protesting against. When else in history has a country adopted the flag/logo/brand of a corporation? Why would a new country, founded in revolution, adopt the flag of the instrument of their recent oppression?
    Again, I'm not taking potshots at American history, just asking what I think are interesting questions.
  • Chris, I'm declaring independence from my role as simply "cameraman" for NBC News. And I've been shouting from the mountain top, to anyone who'll listen, REINVENT YOURSELF. Pioneers (like you) of new media, video blogging and other forms of online storytelling have proven that they can go out there and DO it - produce content, inspire and aggregate audience, and in some cases leverage the viewership for ad revenue.

    Just being a skilled craftsperson in the media field is fast becoming a commodity. So I say to old media people - build that social media, community building skill set. To new media pioneers, ease up on the pitchfork and torch, scorched earth screeds that at times dominate the new media discourse. Take a few notes from old media dogs like me. ;-)

    These type of collaborations will produce promising value propositions for content consumers and the marketers trying to reach them.
  • Good stuff, thank you.
    Can I add don't be afraid to ask/suggest things and *keep* suggesting even when you don't get the response you want?

    Maybe I'm just 'talking out loud' to myself. Don't get discouraged too easily. If it took 2 years to get from tea party to gettin the party started, it's ok for some of your own efforts to take time.

    Start today.
  • Cameron, you are sorely mistaken. Reading through the accounts of the Declaration signers for example, many of whom were quite wealthy to be sure, reveals how truly committed these men were when they pledged to each other their Lives, Fortunes, and sacred Honor.

    Many had their fortunes completely destroyed by the British in reprisal for their willful rebellion. Richard Stockton is just one example.

    The wealthiest folks had the most to loose by the instability of revolution. Yet they went ahead anyway. And it cost many of them a great deal.

    No, I don't history supports your position, one uncertain flag anecdote notwithstanding.
  • Chris, excellent post. I always enjoy your perspectives. There will always be people who try and find something wrong with the United States. Always. It's funny actually, that people would spend so much time doing this.

    We could take pot shots at each other all day, because I'm sure I could quickly spout off a few "founding" issues with other countries, but for me, I'm glad that I live in the US.

    Have a great 4th everyone.
  • I'm definitely not a historian, but if you're asserting that the country was founded solely as a corporation, there's plenty of documentation that would argue against the notion. It might be said that several of the BEIC's actions became catalysts for change, and that it was a corporate motion at the larger hinges in some ways, but Concord wasn't about that, nor were several other motions.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution

    Thanks for the thoughts, Cameron.
  • Diane Brogan
    Great post on such an important day.
  • So it's actually a celebration of the day a corporation bought itself a country.
  • I hate to break it to you Chris, but it's my understanding that American "Independence" was mostly about the British East India Company deciding to buy itself a country to escape the pressures of regulation in England. It's a little understood fact that for the first 12 months of US "independence", your flag was actually the BEIC flag.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United...
  • Thanks for the inspirational post. It's funny how things group themselves together. Last night I was thinking about some long-term goals and what I must do to get from here to there. I do need to declare independence from the inertia of what is my current life. It's time to strike a new direction and be free of the past.
  • neilgorman
    "Anything really worth going after requires a temporary surrender of security."

    Words that I live by.

    -N
  • Chris, you're absolutely right on this. A lot of people I know lately are feeling stuck in this moment, stuck from moving forward.

    My answer has become this: If you feel stuck, move. Do something that moves you forward to where you want to be. If you stay where you are then it's on you, you didn't take the next action to get you where you want to go. Don't complain to me that you are unhappy when you aren't doing anything to actively change that (this doesn't mean that I don't listen when someone needs me to). Wallow and then let. it. go.

    I'm trying to apply that to myself everyday as well. All of my success (or failure) is up to me.

    And to that end, I'm going to be working through some stuff while everyone is quiet for the day. Happy Independence Day my friend.
  • I think just like so many other times in ones life when we feel we must first blame something and/or someone as to why we aren't doing what we should or what we want to be doing, people must have that bitching moment in their life. This is where the fortunate concludes, why the hell am I standing here talking to people who either don't have a clue as to what I am getting at or talking about or just don't give a damn or talking to myself complaining about what I already know. You're absolutely right, it takes independence to step up and make the first move to freedom. Don't wait for someone else's approval or someone else to define your path. If you find yourself longing for a change, trust you intuition because it's usually the first shot heard in the middle night.
  • Chris, first of all, fantastic post! Second once again it always come down to action. Thanks for the inspiration.
  • Yes, great post. For many years I've heard people in my organization stating... "It'll be better now, there's a turnover in the administration" or "Just wait a few months until X gets settled into his role, then we can make change." Baloney. Time for me to step up and make that change happen in my own role and in my own life. Great inspiration my friend. Thanks much.
  • Great post, Chris! So many today are waiting for "someone to do something" never realizing they are that someone. Action is required. Without work there is no miracle.

    Thanks for the holiday inspiration.
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