{"id":1230,"date":"2014-11-16T14:32:57","date_gmt":"2014-11-16T14:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/?p=1230"},"modified":"2014-11-16T14:32:57","modified_gmt":"2014-11-16T14:32:57","slug":"dont-tread-on-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/?p=1230","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;don&#8217;t tread on me&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>being raised in the twentieth century<br \/>\nthe late fifties to early seventies<br \/>\nwithin the farmlands of mid-Michigan<br \/>\nsurrounded by fields growing<br \/>\nnavy beans, sugar beets, and corn<br \/>\nwith those painted barns having yards<br \/>\nsmelling of pigs, cows, chickens and geese<br \/>\nwhile I was undergoing<br \/>\na self-transformation,<br \/>\na self-realization<br \/>\nthat I was to become a mystic<br \/>\nwho would observe<br \/>\nfrom a spiritual context<br \/>\nof a lesser predisposition<br \/>\nthe emergence of<br \/>\nrecurrent patterns of process<br \/>\nwithin Nature<br \/>\nI,<br \/>\nme as the individual<br \/>\na person living a childhood<br \/>\nwas taught through example<br \/>\nby my Scot Irish, German\/Polish family<br \/>\ndescendants of my ancestors<br \/>\nsome who fought in the bath of blood<br \/>\nfor the purpose<br \/>\nthat right for an ideal called freedom<br \/>\nduring the American Revolutionary War<br \/>\nI was told<br \/>\nwe try to live with others<br \/>\nby the code of<br \/>\n\u201c<em>DON\u2019T TREAD ON ME<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\nlike don\u2019t tread upon<br \/>\nthat rattlesnake<br \/>\npictured in a coil on the Gadsden flag<br \/>\nand too,<br \/>\nmy family<br \/>\nbelieved wholeheartedly in the phrase,<br \/>\n\u201c<em>Give me Liberty, or give me Death<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\nthose fervent words spoken by Patrick Henry<br \/>\non March 23rd 1775 at the Virginia convention<br \/>\nthat motivated the calling out<br \/>\nof the people present and in agreement,<br \/>\n\u201c<em>To arms! To arms!<\/em>\u201d \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>under the guidance of these assertions<br \/>\nI was taught to act toward<br \/>\nas well as get along with<br \/>\nmy neighbors,<br \/>\nmy community,<br \/>\nthose of another state<br \/>\nand those living across our borders<br \/>\neven if of a different<br \/>\nname,<br \/>\ngender,<br \/>\nrace,<br \/>\nbelief,<br \/>\nculture,<br \/>\ntradition<br \/>\nor national heritage<br \/>\nI was to treat all people<br \/>\nlike the way of the rattlesnake<br \/>\nas it was found to be way back when<br \/>\nliving before on the land<br \/>\nthat would later become America<br \/>\nof which whose behavior<br \/>\nthe relevant traits of its character<br \/>\nwas aptly described in the words<br \/>\nby the &#8220;<em>American Guesser<\/em>&#8221;<br \/>\nmore than likely Ben Franklin:<br \/>\n&#8220;<em>She never begins an attack,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> nor, when once engaged,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> ever surrenders:<\/em><br \/>\n<em> She is therefore an emblem of<\/em><br \/>\n<em> magnanimity and true courage. &#8230;<\/em><br \/>\n<em> she never wounds &#8217;till she has<\/em><br \/>\n<em> generously given notice,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> even to her enemy,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> and cautioned him against<\/em><br \/>\n<em> the danger of treading on her.<\/em>&#8221;<br \/>\nso in like manner<br \/>\nmy family did not<br \/>\nintentionally tread on,<br \/>\nintrude into the ways and lives<br \/>\nof others,<br \/>\nunless the other asked or<br \/>\nwas in dire need<br \/>\nor unless my family<br \/>\ntheir ways ,<br \/>\ntheir lives<br \/>\nwere somehow<br \/>\nsomeway,<br \/>\ntread upon by another \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>also when growing up<br \/>\nI was told it was proper<br \/>\nto be a proud American<br \/>\nto be proud of what<br \/>\nwe are trying to become<br \/>\ncontinually without deviation<br \/>\nwhile being human<br \/>\nand at times falling short<br \/>\nas to the standard set<br \/>\nwithin our high expectation<br \/>\neven so,<br \/>\ndespite our weaknesses<br \/>\nwe still tried to live up to<br \/>\nwhat our people had fought for<br \/>\nthe right of the individual<br \/>\nblessed with<br \/>\na liberty called freedom<br \/>\nas it applied to the person<br \/>\nwhere a person of self-responsibility<br \/>\nis held responsible<br \/>\naccording to<br \/>\ntheir acts and deeds,<br \/>\nactions resultant from<br \/>\nhaving a freedom of choice<br \/>\nthe individual<br \/>\nhaving a right to choose<br \/>\ntherefore<br \/>\nand therein<br \/>\nlearning through experience<br \/>\nby living the decisions they&#8217;ve made \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>it was believed by my family<br \/>\nthis right for the individual<br \/>\nwas not the same right<br \/>\nto be given to some group,<br \/>\nas in a culture,<br \/>\nrace,<br \/>\ngender,<br \/>\ngovernment,<br \/>\netc.,<br \/>\n\u2018cause the way my family thought<br \/>\nwas that our people had left homelands<br \/>\nin the late sixteen hundreds<br \/>\nand early seventeen hundreds<br \/>\nwhile crossing the sea at great risk<br \/>\nto a \u201c<em>New World<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\nso they could live differently,<br \/>\nto be themselves<br \/>\naccording to their ways<br \/>\nand because of this<br \/>\nat least to my family<br \/>\nit was no longer as important<br \/>\nto be identified or linked to our roots<br \/>\nas being Scottish,<br \/>\nEnglish,<br \/>\nGerman<br \/>\nor Polish<br \/>\nI was to be an American<br \/>\na person with rights<br \/>\nwith a right to choose<br \/>\nthat respected the rights,<br \/>\nthe freedoms<br \/>\nand beliefs of<br \/>\n\u201c<em>We the people<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\nrecognized as<br \/>\nmy fellow Americans,<br \/>\nevery one of them<br \/>\nthat person<br \/>\nas an individual citizen<br \/>\neach and every person<br \/>\nall those that volunteered<br \/>\nwithout coercion<br \/>\nor threat of life,<br \/>\nwho willingly<br \/>\njoined to become a united nation<br \/>\na society built upon<br \/>\nan ideal of liberty<br \/>\nprocuring the development<br \/>\nof individuality<br \/>\nas it relates to freedom of choice<br \/>\nwhere the individual<br \/>\nthrough their own efforts<br \/>\nhas a greater chance for success<br \/>\nas they see fit<br \/>\nnot as another sees fit<br \/>\nwhile we cohabited<br \/>\nliving alongside<br \/>\nwith a diversity of others<br \/>\nbelieving in the same ideal<br \/>\nas to liberty<br \/>\nas a collectivity of cooperative individuals<br \/>\nwho accept and have a mutual tolerance<br \/>\nfor each other,<br \/>\nregardless \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>and yet<br \/>\nmy family blessed to have<br \/>\nthis kind of freedom<br \/>\nfelt sort of uneasy<br \/>\nand rightly so,<br \/>\nabout losing their liberty<br \/>\nfearing that overtime<br \/>\nin the face of<br \/>\nthe history of<br \/>\npast behavior<br \/>\nthe acts of humanity<br \/>\nonce again<br \/>\nmight repeat itself<br \/>\nmaybe not quite in the same way<br \/>\nwherefore being<br \/>\nslightly different<br \/>\nyet still an offspring to<br \/>\nor a cousin to<br \/>\nthe inevitable and eroding<br \/>\nspirit of mob mentality<br \/>\nto be able to<br \/>\nto assemble<br \/>\nattract ripe minds<br \/>\naround similar wants and desires<br \/>\nto obtain a popular representation<br \/>\nthat would foster<br \/>\nand gain leverage for its cause<br \/>\nabout some agreed upon way of opinion,<br \/>\npoint-of-view<br \/>\nor a particular way of<br \/>\nperceiving life as it should be<br \/>\nespecially as this kind of mentality,<br \/>\ngrows in popularity<br \/>\nto the point of doing<br \/>\nas this type of<br \/>\nherd mentality sees fit \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>as I&#8217;ve learned<br \/>\ncome to experience<br \/>\nwhile growing up<br \/>\nand observing types of process<br \/>\nwithin Nature like this<br \/>\nthose who are lured to<br \/>\nthis manner of mind,<br \/>\nhave a way of forming<br \/>\na reliance to an alliance<br \/>\na group of individuals,<br \/>\nconstructed and mustered<br \/>\nto be persuasive through sheer number<br \/>\nas in a business association,<br \/>\norganization,<br \/>\nwhether it be religious based<br \/>\nor a social movement<br \/>\nsupporting a particular race and\/or gender<br \/>\nor a lobbyist group<br \/>\nwithin the political arena<br \/>\napparently to<br \/>\nseemingly having<br \/>\nthe main intent to influence,<br \/>\nto pressure others<br \/>\ninto restricting<br \/>\nthe life choices of other individuals<br \/>\nall those people,<br \/>\nwho live their lives<br \/>\nnot being of a like kind of mind<br \/>\nas like them<br \/>\nthat group<br \/>\nof which tries<br \/>\nto make those different<br \/>\ncomply,<br \/>\nby way of<br \/>\na forced compliance<br \/>\nno matter if their way as a group<br \/>\nis deemed<br \/>\nnot to be right<br \/>\nby another individual<br \/>\nthough in all fairness<br \/>\nand<br \/>\nunderstandably so<br \/>\nthese groups with causes<br \/>\ncan be of noble origin<br \/>\nfounded upon the trials and tribulations<br \/>\nsuffered<br \/>\nduring the struggle to live with others<br \/>\nand because of a need<br \/>\nto be identified in a certain way<br \/>\nthat to me,<br \/>\nthese wants and desires of an individual<br \/>\nto belong to something<br \/>\nshould not be made into<br \/>\na point of judgment<br \/>\nor contention by the individual<br \/>\nbecause others have the right<br \/>\nto live as they please<br \/>\nthrough a civil manner in America \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>however,<br \/>\nfor some<br \/>\ndue to the vanity arising<br \/>\nfrom a group of people<br \/>\nhaving the sole mentality<br \/>\nof a perceived rightness<br \/>\nas to a way of belief or ideology<br \/>\nthey disassociate themselves<br \/>\ninto the realm of bias<br \/>\nand tunnel vision<br \/>\nexcluding other ways<br \/>\nbrought forth through<br \/>\nthe process of individual choice<br \/>\nwhile they ensnare<br \/>\nalong the way<br \/>\nall those<br \/>\nwho are susceptible by way of<br \/>\nan intellectual disposition<br \/>\nof which being based upon<br \/>\nthe sense of being well-educated<br \/>\nto lend the group support<br \/>\nthrough scholarly guidance<br \/>\nby way of a superficial<br \/>\nrealm of intelligence<br \/>\nas if bequeathed<br \/>\nwith a divinely mandated stature<br \/>\nto instruct all individuals<br \/>\nconsidered to be less in the know<br \/>\nthat possess a more feeble mind<br \/>\nnot capable of<br \/>\nprogressing intelligently<br \/>\nat their own pace<br \/>\nor quick enough<br \/>\nto achieve the right way<br \/>\nas deemed appropriate by the group<br \/>\nno longer wanting to<br \/>\nwait on that person,<br \/>\nto naturally live and learn<br \/>\nfrom the experience<br \/>\nthey individually make<br \/>\nwhile living with others<br \/>\nthrough life choices \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>it is then<br \/>\nit so seems<br \/>\nout of sheer disappointment<br \/>\nas to the self-development of<br \/>\nthe individual<br \/>\nthese kind of groups<br \/>\nwhatever form they take<br \/>\nand yet acting in a similar manner<br \/>\nwhether to be<br \/>\nacting as one group<br \/>\nor a collection of groups together<br \/>\nthey convert themselves<br \/>\ninto having<br \/>\nan escalated tendency<br \/>\nof falling head-on<br \/>\nface first<br \/>\ninto the droves of impatience<br \/>\nand the throngs of intolerance<br \/>\nfor all persons<br \/>\ntowards all individuals<br \/>\nof which,<br \/>\nthey, this grouping<br \/>\nact as if<br \/>\na wannabe authoritarian<br \/>\nthrough a sales job notoriety<br \/>\nidentifying and labeling all those<br \/>\nall those still<br \/>\nwho remain inflexible<br \/>\nto the group\u2019s<br \/>\nwished-for ways<br \/>\nit appears then<br \/>\nat this climax of mob<br \/>\nor herd mentality<br \/>\nat this heighten apex of<br \/>\ngrandiose enlightenment<br \/>\nthey, this grouping<br \/>\nthose dressed up<br \/>\nto appear<br \/>\nas a majority representative,<br \/>\nseemingly sanctified<br \/>\ncovering over their predisposition<br \/>\nthey look as if to be justified,<br \/>\nnow worthy enough to enlist<br \/>\ncall upon the people\u2019s servant<br \/>\nand forsworn protector of liberty<br \/>\nthat ideal of freedom<br \/>\nembodying basic rights<br \/>\nfor the individual<br \/>\na person\u2019s right of choice<br \/>\nnot meant for the mob<br \/>\nassembling a group with a cause<br \/>\nand yet this slave<br \/>\nis now primed by the herd<br \/>\nthe government<br \/>\nand its branches within<br \/>\nthe republic\u2019s jurisdiction<br \/>\nto enact laws<br \/>\nthat will temper the behavior<br \/>\nof all individuals that dare not conform \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>wherefore and wherein<br \/>\nat this time<br \/>\nduring these occurrences<br \/>\nit is demonstrated<br \/>\nfor all of a receptive<br \/>\nand not a predisposed mind<br \/>\nto observe the reaction<br \/>\nthe end result of<br \/>\nwhen laws are over-relied upon<br \/>\nused beyond the extent<br \/>\nand original intent of the people\u2019s<br \/>\nenvisioned purpose<br \/>\nas a regulatory process<br \/>\nor jurisprudence<br \/>\naltered<br \/>\nto sequester a certain way<br \/>\nbeing enforced through<br \/>\na restrictive manner levied by law<br \/>\ninstead of holding fast<br \/>\nto the conviction<br \/>\nthat an individual being<br \/>\nguaranteed certain inalienable rights<br \/>\novertime,<br \/>\nas I&#8217;ve written previously,<br \/>\n\u201c<em>where a person of self-responsibility<\/em><br \/>\n<em> is held responsible<\/em><br \/>\n<em> according to<\/em><br \/>\n<em> their acts and deeds,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> actions resultant from<\/em><br \/>\n<em> having a freedom of choice<\/em><br \/>\n<em> the individual<\/em><br \/>\n<em> having a right to choose<\/em><br \/>\n<em> therefore<\/em><br \/>\n<em> and therein<\/em><br \/>\n<em> learning through experience<\/em><br \/>\n<em> by living the decisions they&#8217;ve made<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\nwould eventually become<br \/>\nthe type of individual<br \/>\nthat\u2019s trying to be forced<br \/>\nthrough a short cut approach<br \/>\nwith a tire patch,<br \/>\nquick fix agenda<br \/>\nincited by a mob mentality<br \/>\nthat\u2019s being reinforced by the law \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>after which<br \/>\nthis escalated process<br \/>\nwill become to be perceived<br \/>\nas I&#8217;ve related to in the past<br \/>\nas to the motivation for<br \/>\nbuilding our nation upon<br \/>\ntaken as an outright infringement<br \/>\nupon the code of<br \/>\n\u201c<em>DON\u2019T TREAD ON ME<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\nby our present day patriots<br \/>\nwho flow with the blood<br \/>\nthe blood of those patriots<br \/>\nof days gone by<br \/>\nwho spawned the ideology<br \/>\nthe root character of America<br \/>\nthat spirit of liberty with its freedom<br \/>\nthose patriots<br \/>\nwho assembled at a tea party in Boston<br \/>\nto stand up against exploitative regulations<br \/>\nand taxation gone a-rye<br \/>\nthrough the repulsive act<br \/>\nof treading upon the people<br \/>\nand too<br \/>\nas these modern laws get enacted<br \/>\nthat appear to tread upon<br \/>\nthe rights of the people as individuals<br \/>\nthese seemingly despotic acts<br \/>\nwill be remembered by the patriots of today<br \/>\nas emblematic of<br \/>\na foregone monarchy<br \/>\neventually fought against,<br \/>\nto be freed from its constraints forever<br \/>\nreleased from a self-appointed authority\u2019s<br \/>\noppressive ways and<br \/>\nrepressive discriminatory actions<br \/>\nof which this rebellion<br \/>\neventually led<br \/>\nto the proclamation by Lincoln,<br \/>\nat Gettysburg<br \/>\noutlining the intrinsic characteristic<br \/>\nfor governance,<br \/>\nas being a<br \/>\n\u201c<em>government of the people,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> by the people,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> for the people<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\nand as aforementioned<br \/>\na government with laws<br \/>\nnot for: \u201c<em>a group of individuals\u2026.<\/em><br \/>\n<em> a business association,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> organization,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> whether it be religious based<\/em><br \/>\n<em> or a social movement<\/em><br \/>\n<em> supporting a particular race and\/or gender<\/em><br \/>\n<em> or a lobbyist group<\/em><br \/>\n<em> within the political arena<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\nbut a government with laws<br \/>\nenacted \u201c<em>for the people<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\ndesigned to protect the individual rights of,<br \/>\n\u201c<em>each and every person<\/em><br \/>\n<em> all those that volunteered<\/em><br \/>\n<em> without coercion<\/em><br \/>\n<em> or threat of life,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> who willingly<\/em><br \/>\n<em> joined to become a united nation<\/em><br \/>\n<em> a society built upon<\/em><br \/>\n<em> an ideal of liberty<\/em><br \/>\n<em> procuring the development<\/em><br \/>\n<em> of individuality<\/em><br \/>\n<em> as it relates to freedom of choice<\/em><br \/>\n<em> where the individual<\/em><br \/>\n<em> through their own efforts<\/em><br \/>\n<em> has a greater chance for success<\/em><br \/>\n<em> as they see fit<\/em>\u201d \u00a0 ~<\/p>\n<p>I can only assume,<br \/>\nthese modern day patriots<br \/>\nwho rightly feel their individuality<br \/>\nis once again being tread upon<br \/>\nwill exhibit the traits of the rattlesnake<br \/>\nexemplified by the patriots of old<br \/>\nthey will give notice through protests<br \/>\ndemonstrating their right to free speech<br \/>\ninsisting the government,<br \/>\ntheir appointed civil servant<br \/>\nfollow without deviation,<br \/>\nrather than follow the influence<br \/>\nof a predisposed mentality<br \/>\ncontrary to the basic laws instituted<br \/>\nbut to follow and do its sworn duty<br \/>\nto protect<br \/>\nand to insure the individual\u2019s<br \/>\nnot some groups<br \/>\ninalienable rights as to a liberty<br \/>\nwith its freedom of choice<br \/>\nso a phrase like:<br \/>\n\u201c<em>Give me Liberty, or give me Death<\/em>\u201d<br \/>\nwill remain a phrase of the past<br \/>\nand not some call, \u201c<em>To arms! To arms!<\/em>\u201d ~<\/p>\n<p>my words above<br \/>\nat best<br \/>\naren&#8217;t meant to be<br \/>\nsome yay or nay<br \/>\nthey are just<br \/>\nthe way<br \/>\nI see it<br \/>\nas a mystic<br \/>\nwho tries to observe<br \/>\nfrom a spiritual context<br \/>\nof a lesser predisposition<br \/>\nthe emergence of<br \/>\nrecurrent patterns of process<br \/>\nwithin Nature<\/p>\n<p>peace out<\/p>\n<p>Words by \u00a0 ~Keith Alan Hamilton~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>being raised in the twentieth century the late fifties to early seventies within the farmlands of mid-Michigan surrounded by fields growing navy beans, sugar beets, and corn with those painted barns having yards smelling of pigs, cows, chickens and geese while I was undergoing a self-transformation, a self-realization that I was to become a mystic &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/?p=1230\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8216;don&#8217;t tread on me&#8217;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peaceoutpoems","category-muse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1231,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions\/1231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithalanhamilton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}