There are probably all sorts of things wrong with this title. It is clickbaity, it is potentially unrepresentative in that it implies that I am against the US and their Independence (not true). That, said, I am unsure why we celebrate this holiday in modern day society.
Independence Day is the celebration of America's victory over Britain 200 years ago. It celebrates a very myopic view of what Independence means and even that gets glossed over by BBQ's and fireworks. Today's America is a cacophony of regulation and faux representation. We have industries that disproportionately influence political decisions. We have a military that pursues aggressive behaviors in countries that are strategically located, and in so doing creates the very people it says it is defending from. We have a surveillance system that is slowly being put into place that has very little transparency, resulting in a class of people behind an undefined social curtain. We have a police system that has no accountability and which has been demonstrated countless times to be above reproach despite video evidence.
There are many examples in today's society that show that 'freedom' and 'independence' are not simple terms. Money and education are very important aspects to being able to perform autonomously but the opportunity to attain money and education is something that is probably only true for individual cases more than it is true for groups.
Now, if you are on Steemit, I imagine that a lot of this is probably not new information. The need for decentralized communicative tools is something that is required in a free society, especially when the companies who own the majority of media/applications are not huge fans of innovation coming from outside of their own legal claims. A lot of the issues that we have in America are being increasingly plastered over the internet. So I think the point of this post is mostly to call attention to the fact that we have selective memories. We are going to forget our problems, for a day, and celebrate a day that happened before anyone of us was born. A day that has been glorified and held up like it is something that exists today. A lot of the ideas and thoughts I hear from many people annually around this time don't really mean anything. Saying, “America is Great,” is kind of an incomplete thought – Great when compared to what? Absolutely there are aspects of America that we can compare with other things and be accurate when we say it is great. But society is a very diverse and complicated thing. It's not so great when compared with others. It's a relative statement that is too often taken as holy writ as a given that invariably stops any potentially productive discussion on its face.
BBQ's and Fireworks are fun. No argument from me. Further, I do enjoy living in a country that is not so overt in its attempts to curb dissension. It can't be denied that America has also done lots of positive things in the world and is the reason for a lot of innovation. But I don't enjoy the idea of having to pay taxes and reflect on the idea that some of my taxes went towards the bombing of innocent people in a country that I have never been too. I don't like the idea that my taxes are doing anything for anyone that doesn't include building infrastructure and ensuring educational resources are available for my neighbours. Their are many things that I think could be improved greatly and I don't think that I care much hearing the story of how America became independent anymore. I've heard it before.
I think that the future is going to be decentralized. Borders are going to be relevant to some extent but it won't be true that all citizens within a border are going to agree. Independence is going to occur through the spreading of information and making it available to those who traditionally would never have had access to it. When the people of the world can collectively decide their behaviors and group policy, as opposed to special interest representatives resulting from an imperfect elective process, perhaps then there might be something to celebrate. Until then, I think that I am unsure that I think that the Fourth of July is anything that I need to celebrate.
Somebody get this man a burger!
Somehow, the Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday.
I totally get your objection to what America has become.
But on the Fourth of July, I celebrate the ideal America as I viewed it in my youth.
I love the taste of watermelon, potato salad, and fried chicken with the smell of gunpowder wafting through the evening air. :o)
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