The 4th of July is the day the United States celebrates its independence from external tyranny. What about the forms of tyranny and oppression that are inherent in our country today? Here are a few responses I propose for 2017.

Option 1: Start a Community

One notion to fix some of what is broken in U.S. politics is to help shift the population of a swing district by encouraging progressives to move there and get active. Inspirations for a new community include Gaviotas, Occupy! and the cooperatives around the world.  I’ve created spaces where people can share and contribute their ideas on GoogleDocs and wikispaces.

Option 2: Update the Constitution

Electoral colleges, 3/5 person-hood, Prohibition… this document is really showing its age. It might be time to start a new one, keeping the best of what the US Constitution still has to offer, but clearing out the useless or dreadful junk from bygone centuries, and perhaps even getting some fresh ideas into it, like the Equal Rights Amendment (does 94 years old still count as “fresh”?).

Most liberal democracies—including the nice, stable ones in Western Europe—amend their constitutions with great frequency.

Once again, collaborative editing to the rescue! I’ve posted the full constitution as a GoogleDoc and on wikispaces.

Option 3: Declare Interdependence

As ever, with gratitude to JoodyB for all her amazing ideas: Re-imagining Independence Day invites you to celebrate, and even come up with a New Declaration.

“…a little rebellion now and then is a good thing…”
~Thomas Jefferson, 1787