I'm a big flag-waver, to an extent. I somewhat blame my education for giving me a skeptic mind, since my patriotism isn't as resolute as the next mullet-wearing Dale Earnhart fanatic, but I still have a strong sense of identity as a member of this country.
In turn, I felt that I should say something...inspiring for this holiday that celebrates essentially everything we stand for as a republic and a people. The terrorism attacks back in September rumbled the belly of the beast for a while, but if there's anything we're good at it’s re-establishing a status quo.
Well, most of us anyway.
Oh sure, there's still flags waving around. I see them on cars, and outside houses. That's definitely a unique by-product on what Dubya has dubbed our 'War on Terror'. I'm happy about small token things like that. But every so often, I like to see a small demonstration of that put into words or actions. I want to hear what people have to say they’re proud of. We need to be proud of who we are if we want to defend it worth a shit.
Yeah, we got ourselves some corrupt white-collar creeps and criminals lining the avenues of Wall Street. We'll always have that, at least for now. We've done things that we aren't proud of, and things that we attempt to forget and remember away. Bin Laden is a monster of our own making, after a fashion, though I know that this topic is most likely one for debate on the specifics. We are no angels in the eyes of the world for many understandable reasons.
We'll always have some problem or another, but the great thing about our culture is that we can transcend that. Look beyond that. To learn from our mistakes, sometimes after we repeat them once or twice, but always growing from our troubles and transgressions.
Despite our faults, we are also one the strongest and everlasting forces of hope in the world. We are inexorably tied to the welfare of the world, even with its postulations against that fact.
And so, in that context, it is now the fourth of July.
What many people tend to forget is that not only is this the usual holiday week, but an anniversary of one of the most epic engagements in our nation's military history (and on domestic soil, no less!): Gettysburg.
As a history minor who specializes in the 'early American' period, I've always had an affinity for the Civil War and the subdued social contexts beneath it. The ties leading to the Civil War are so intriguing to follow, especially since they wind all the way back to our nation's creation.
There are so many footnotes and factors, both positive and negative, that lead up to the culmination of disunity that to cover them all would take weeks. Suffice it to say, the Civil War, and the disagreements and compromises that arose before it, were a testament to the fact that the ties that bind are fragile but forever present in our inherent existence as a populace bound together in our forbearers’ willing (and unwilling) blood, tears, and history.
We have encountered threats to our unity, our safety, before. We met them and soundly defeated them. We will defeat this unseen enemy that is allayed against us. We may not be able to kill the beast that wishes our demise, but we will be forever vigilant and defiant in the face of that which wants us destroyed.
All of these factors, compounded with our personal heritages, are what make us undeniably strong, proud, incorrigible at times, but distinctly and unwaveringly American.
I wish a very happy 4th of July to my fellow citizens of these United States. United in heritage, united in history, and united in hope. Hope for a better future, with the strength of conviction that such a reality can, and will, come to pass.
