Upcoming 4th of July
Jul. 3rd, 2010 09:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deborahjrossAt the best of times, I'm allergic to patriotism in the form of the obligatory worship of country. Daily practice of respect for other people, valuing their resourcefulness, offering encouragement and empowerment to those less fortunate, appreciation for differences of opinion, tolerance of free speech -- I think these are much more appropriate ways to celebrate the best of American ideals. Around this time of year, however, I verge toward anaphylactic shock.
I had not, however, thought of this aspect of the upcoming holiday, from the blog "Unqualified Offerings:"
July 4 celebrations have a lot of obligatory gestures of gratitude towards our standing army. Here we are, commemorating an act of defiance by people who didn’t want a standing army and led a local insurgency against a global military superpower, and with no sense of irony we are asked to thank the people fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, I’m not saying we should blame the people in uniform, or spend July 4 saying “Screw you, redcoat!” to people in camouflage. I’m just saying that if you want to celebrate an insurgency against a superpower, it’s probably not the best time to also celebrate people fighting insurgents on behalf of a superpower.
He goes on to say:
You might also send a thank-you note to the nearest French consulate while you’re at it, given their role in our battle for independence. And if you really want to celebrate and preserve American freedom...read a book that somebody tried to ban.
I love the idea of reading a banned book to celebrate Independence Day.
Full text here.
I had not, however, thought of this aspect of the upcoming holiday, from the blog "Unqualified Offerings:"
July 4 celebrations have a lot of obligatory gestures of gratitude towards our standing army. Here we are, commemorating an act of defiance by people who didn’t want a standing army and led a local insurgency against a global military superpower, and with no sense of irony we are asked to thank the people fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, I’m not saying we should blame the people in uniform, or spend July 4 saying “Screw you, redcoat!” to people in camouflage. I’m just saying that if you want to celebrate an insurgency against a superpower, it’s probably not the best time to also celebrate people fighting insurgents on behalf of a superpower.
He goes on to say:
You might also send a thank-you note to the nearest French consulate while you’re at it, given their role in our battle for independence. And if you really want to celebrate and preserve American freedom...read a book that somebody tried to ban.
I love the idea of reading a banned book to celebrate Independence Day.
Full text here.
