Independence = Freedom

“Decide yourself who was right: you or the one who questioned you then? Recall the first question; its meaning, though not literally, was this: ‘You want to go into the world, and you are going empty-handed, with some promise of freedom, which they in their simplicity and innate lawlessness cannot even comprehend, which they dread and fear—for nothing has ever been more insufferable for man and for human society than freedom! But do you see these stones in this bare, scorching desert? Turn them into bread and mankind will run after you like sheep, grateful and obedient, though eternally trembling lest you withdraw your hand and your loaves cease for them.’”
--from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

50 Years Ago

I used to watch this film every day. I can still watch it anytime, anywhere.

I especially love when Gene Hackman's FBI Agent gets called "Mr. Anderson" by Willem DeFoe's "Mr. Ward". I wish it would catch on as a meme more than that Matrix asshole.

Ward: Just don't lose sight of whose rights are being violated!
Anderson: Don't put me on your perch, Mr. Ward.
Ward: Don't drag me into your gutter, Mr. Anderson!
Anderson: These people are crawling out of the SEWER, MR. WARD! Maybe the gutter's where we outta be! 

 That's sheer poetry, ladies and gentlemen! The true events that inspired this film happened 50 years ago now. It would be naive and silly to go on about how anything's better now than before. I just really like the film and think everyone should watch it and decide what's what for themselves. So sayeth the King of Funny Faces!