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this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
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The emphasis is on "Me"
Yeah. It's not an expression of mutual defense, it's an expression of self defense only.
It doesn't say "Don't tread on my neighbor."
It doesn't say "I won't tread on you." Snakes conveniently don't wear boots.
Hell, it doesn't even say "I'll stick up for my neighbor after they defend themselves from you."
It could be as simple as "Don't Tread on Us" but it's not. To be fair, the wording doesn't necessarily imply a selfish attitude, but the ones waving a flag definitely do,
As the French ladies used to say, I like Ben Franklin's snake better.
There is nothing inherently oppressive about saying "Don't tread on me.". Individual liberty does not beget an oppressive structure within the collective. An individual should not stand behind the flag in good conscience if the believe that their liberties trump those of others.
Being individually free does not necessitate an oppressive structure within the collective -- if all individuals are free, then the collective must also be free.
This seems like it should be true, but unfortunately game theory shows that it is not, due to coordination problems. It's possible for everyone to have individual free choice in their actions, and yet the collective to be incapable of making the choice that everyone would individually prefer it to make. The elementary example of this is the Prisoner's Dilemma.
Interestingly, real humans turn out to be better at resolving coordination problems than a purely selfish algorithm is.
One must still not forget that their liberties do not trump the liberties of others. Freedom is something we enjoy as a collective. If there is inequality in this then the collective is no longer free, but is, instead, oppressive.
In short, the Gadsden flag is not about one being free to trample on the rights of others, but, instead, upholding the freedoms of the collective by respecting the liberties of each unique individual. Inequality in freedom is oppression.