Bon 14 Juillet!

Another holiday to talk about, and this time a holiday proper of one of my favorite countries in the world, if not my favorite: July 14th, the Bastille Day. In case you don't know which country it belongs to, it is France. This holiday isn't just any holiday, but the National Holiday of France.

The Bastille was an old building that was used as a state prison, where political prisoners were held, but also people the king ordered to be held without any procedure being initiatied against them. By the time of the French Revolution, the building wasn't being used much, and there were plans to demolish it, however, in July 14th, 1789, this building became a symbol in the eyes of the people, of the behavior and the powers the monarchy assigned to themselves. The right to have anyone imprisoned without a trial or even any formal accusation of any crime, the state of disadvantage and defenselessness in which the people was in front of the monarchy, who could bend the laws as it pleased them.

The Bastille day's mention in this blog is a bit more than simply me being a fan of francophonie and madly in love with France. This day, in it's most simple elements (these meaning those most people know about), reminds us about the time to change. Change our view, change our attitude, change those things about us that have gone comfortable, that might be causing harm to other areas of our life, but we feel we are too comfortable to more out of them. The comfort in relaying on our prejudices, rather than actually paying attention to what really goes on. Comfort in our own believes, closing our eyes to evidence that show us things might not be the way we think they are. Comfort in doing a half assed job rather than doing our best. Comfort in discriminating others, comfort in blocking the access of others to information or fources of advantage that might force us to get off our asses and start looking for something that makes us competitive.

I'm not talking about kicking up the bucket of our life when we are happy and satisfied - that's not the point, as you know I am all about learning to say "enough" and learning to recognize when you are sated - but I'm talking about those things you know that are not really good. Stop thinking that you can deal with your child by giving it money to buy something, instead of spending time with them. Stop thinking that "oh well, this is the body you'll have, no exercise would do you any good", and start eating healthy and moving more! I'm not saying try, I say do it! I'm not saying to stop drinking coffee, I'm saying that you freaking can squeeze a salad in your menu. I'm not saying run a marathon, I'm saying, you can walk to the grocery store, take the steps instead of the elevator and use public transportation to go to the office every once in a while.

It's time to revue your life, your believes, your attitude. Review your politics: do you give charity to look good, to sooth your soul and think that by giving a coin to an indigent God's going to grant you a better paying job, or are you actually trying to help people? And what you're doing, is actually helping?

Look into your soul, find the monarchies in your life, find that Bastille where you lock and jsutify the harm and injustice you do against others. Why don't you take a moment (or make it part of your next List of 13), and think about your guiding principles, your values, and as the Revolution conquered France and gave the world the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizens, you could also write down and place somewhere you can see it, the golden rules that guide your life.

I'm leaving you these articles (as taken from Wikipedia), so they can inspire you, though if you prefer, take the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to review your principles.

1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.
2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.
3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.
4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.
5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.
6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents.
7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting, transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue of the law shall submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense.
8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offense.
9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely repressed by law.
10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law.
11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.
12. The security of the rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be entrusted.
13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of the public forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.
14. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes.
15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of his administration.
16. A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.
17. Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one can be deprived of it, unless demanded by public necessity, legally constituted, explicitly demands it, and under the condition of a just and prior indemnity.

(taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen)