Mead in a Free Republic
This Sunday, July 4th, our country’s 245th birthday, is an opportunity (in Frank’s mind at least) to tune into the deep meaning of independence and its relationship to sovereignty and interdependence.
“Denounce The Government, Embrace the Flag,
Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands…”
-Wendell Berry, The Mad Farmer Liberation Front - Manifesto
We live in a wild world.
Catastrophes and Peak Experiences,
Electronic Crypto Currency and natural disasters.
Opportunity and challenge.
Drudgery and transcendence.
They surround us and are available to us nearly every moment depending on where we choose to focus our attention.
As a country founded on the principles that each individual is an independent, sovereign being, entitled to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness; and as a nation of people united in our vision of a world where liberty and freedom should be available to all those who would claim it; there is a tension between the beautiful, brave individualism that claims its individual freedom regardless of circumstance and the socially aware and collective maturity that recognizes that in order for one person’s life to be joyful and peaceful and abundant, one’s neighbors must have access to joy and peace and abundance as well.
And so, we are a community. A coming together into unity. One from Many.
E pluribus, unum.
It is a messy process. Full of debate and opposition. Sometimes full of misunderstanding and conflict.
But it is our birthright as American Citizens, and as far as we know, this modern democracy we have built is the best messy system for managing political concerns that any human society has devised and agreed to so far.
It has created an unprecedented material quality of life for an unprecedented number of people, around the world.
Now, if this system unintentionally destroys the ability of the earth to support life as we know it through a global scale tragedy of the commons, then that may be a critical oversight.
But, free markets, liberal governments, checks and balances, free speech, free beliefs - these create a great foundation for a community of sovereign humans to flourish - as long as one thing is intentionally incorporated - Social Responsibility.
There are a ton of actors in our American and now global economic system who have abandoned social responsibility in the pursuit of singular focus on one objective. Whether that is maximizing quarterly returns to shareholders or maximizing one individual’s power and influence - we have enabled individuals and corporate entities to deteriorate the commons very seriously. To illustrate the point, we apparently are losing a stable ecological system that can support human life. We are apparently losing a national culture that can have productive civil discourse over anything but the most basic and critical functions.
If you need support for these arguments, simply turn on the news. Increased instances of heat waves, catastrophic storms and melting ice caps are compelling evidence that human activity is shifting the ecological systems we depend on for life support. The gridlock in washington over a an infrastructure bill to replace the 50 year infrastructure built 60 years ago that was met with calculated positions to result in political victories in future elections, instead of being met with constructive debate and readiness to solve problems for everyone’s benefit, make it clear that we need to do something differently if we are to make progress going forward.
And that comes down to you, me, and our dollars.
To our time and energy and how we spend them.
The dollars we own are a representation of time and energy expended to create value. We can make dollars by creating and selling something, earn them by working for someone else, or providing a service to someone. We can save them, share them and/or invest them.
And each action we take with our money goes towards building a world that is either more joyful, beautiful, peaceful and abundant, or less so.
If you want to take money out of the equation, and focus instead on what money represents, time, energy and value, then we can say that each action we take with our energy, time and skill goes towards building a more joyful, beautiful, peaceful and abundant world, or not.
So friends, let’s resolve to choose, in our deepest sovereignty, to build a more joyful, beautiful, peaceful and abundant world with our time, energy and skill in all of its forms. Whether that’s with our money, by purchasing things that make the earth more capable of supporting life, or with our energy, time and skills, by thinking and speaking and acting to create that world in each moment.
If we all do that, together, we will get there, and this 245 year experiment in independence, sovereignty and interdependence will continue on a more beautiful, joyful, peaceful and abundant earth.
Meadery News:
Something Something Sour is almost out of Stock - This rich, complex and refreshing mead is about to sell out! The honey source we used for it may not be available to us for a while. If you want a bottle or three or twelve of this epic and well regarded batch, then get your order in today. We anticipate it will not return until early to mid 2022.
Investment Opportunity - As Frank said in his Independence day essay - we can shift the direction of the world by shifting the way we use our money, our time, our energy and our skills. Well, if you’re ready to shift a portion of your risk tolerant investment portfolio into an asset with a solid potential for both an economic and ecologically regenerative upside, then, Get Invested in Golden Coast Mead!
10th Anniversary Party - For those that made it, thank you. We had an epic time. Costumes were judged. Songs were sung. Dances were danced. Delicious food was eaten and some of the best mead in the world was thoroughly enjoyed. Stay tuned for more opportunities to celebrate the beauty and meading of this life with us.
CHEERS! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!
(Frank and the Golden Coast Mead Team)