Post by firecracker on Jul 3, 2013 22:03:53 GMT -5
July 4th, Independence Day, my birthday and the birthday of my nation. Once I proudly celebrated with red white and blue. Now, my bruised and battered, black and blue nation limps into the holiday. And I am skipping the red white and blue.
Many will attempt to celebrate as in times past. Most will never give any thought to the real meaning of the day.
In my youth, some 60 years ago, we traveled on cheap gas to drive in movies and outdoor concerts. We hung out with family on weekends and school friends on weekdays. Life was, for many of us, good. It was not perfect, or so we thought. But looking back from 2013, perhaps, for us here in the U.S., it was as perfect as the human existence can get.
My parents' generation saw their investment into a home skyrocket into a large chunk of their 'portfolio'. Education was relatively cheap. And I spent the summer of 1968 in Europe, traveling freely in a world that no longer exists. I was not groped at the airport. As a young woman flying alone, I was relatively safe. And the languages I had learned in school were my ticket to back alley cafes, street side bistros and freedom. But in my travels, I saw clearly, the differences in cultures and the things that went with the freedom of the American lifestyle and which other societies did not enjoy.
I visited Iceland before the bankers crashed their economy. And Germany before the wall came down.
At the same time, Viet Nam was a stark reality. My fiance was stationed in Mannheim in supply. We never knew when he would ship out. And several boys from my high school graduating class had already been sent to war zones, some did not return alive.
We listened to Huntley Brinkley and it never occurred to us that they were not telling us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So there were flaws in the reality we experienced. But we have come so far through drugs and wars and equal opportunity and gay rights and right to choose and every other hot button issue, that we never noticed how "One nation under God, Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." had become a nation of every person and group trying to grab for themselves or their identity group, all that they could.
Instead of looking around and seeing the 'one' in all of society, flawed as it might be, we looked around for the differences. We sought out any little place where someone else had 'more' and we had 'less' and we demanded our fair share. And while we were acting like 2 year old brats, our government was being hijacked. While we distracted ourselves worrying about a new car or a new career or a raise every year so we could buy more stuff we often did not use, the banks and the government and the corporations were happy to advertise to us how much we needed their products...and they loaned us the money against our income or our homes to buy the stuff. They gave us magic cards, just swipe to pay and take it home, never a penny exchanged. It was almost like stealing...until the statements stacked up and we realized that it was our lives that had been stolen from US.
I just finished watching Simon and Garfunkel's Concert in Central Park. Magical, craftsmen of tunes at the top of their game. And freedom. Imagine, if the concert were held today, the 'security' measures that would be taken. Imagine, going to a free wheeling love fest like this concert and having to be scanned and groped to enter. Bags and coolers searched. No big slurpies allowed!
We are no longer independent. We have become the epitome of dependency. Our society has been programmed to one that walks through the day with digital media pressed to its ear. Our 'connection' has become so artificial and superficial that one strong sun flare or EMP can instantly 'disconnect us.
Even the pride of our work has been stolen from us. We are paid 'good salaries by Fortune 100 companies working with the finest minds and machines, and yet the inventions of 100 years ago have been stifled and twisted, and the product of the brilliant minds currently working for these corporations is being hijacked to destructive ends rather than the rebuilding of broken minds and bodies.
Young men and women who bought into the 'lie, who admirably are willing to sacrifice to defend the idea of that lie, America, are used and thrown aside like the debris we are leaving behind in Afghanistan.
So while many celebrate the day with burgers and beer, I, firecracker, will raise a glass to the America I once knew and the hope that somehow we can take her back and make her the shining beacon of liberty and hope and freedom. It may always have been a dream. But it was a great dream. And if I am lucky, even in small groups, I will surround myself with others who want for themselves and their children, the dream of independence to endure. Happy Birthday America. As I blow out your candles tomorrow, my wish for you is liberty and independence. Long may they live.
Many will attempt to celebrate as in times past. Most will never give any thought to the real meaning of the day.
In my youth, some 60 years ago, we traveled on cheap gas to drive in movies and outdoor concerts. We hung out with family on weekends and school friends on weekdays. Life was, for many of us, good. It was not perfect, or so we thought. But looking back from 2013, perhaps, for us here in the U.S., it was as perfect as the human existence can get.
My parents' generation saw their investment into a home skyrocket into a large chunk of their 'portfolio'. Education was relatively cheap. And I spent the summer of 1968 in Europe, traveling freely in a world that no longer exists. I was not groped at the airport. As a young woman flying alone, I was relatively safe. And the languages I had learned in school were my ticket to back alley cafes, street side bistros and freedom. But in my travels, I saw clearly, the differences in cultures and the things that went with the freedom of the American lifestyle and which other societies did not enjoy.
I visited Iceland before the bankers crashed their economy. And Germany before the wall came down.
At the same time, Viet Nam was a stark reality. My fiance was stationed in Mannheim in supply. We never knew when he would ship out. And several boys from my high school graduating class had already been sent to war zones, some did not return alive.
We listened to Huntley Brinkley and it never occurred to us that they were not telling us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So there were flaws in the reality we experienced. But we have come so far through drugs and wars and equal opportunity and gay rights and right to choose and every other hot button issue, that we never noticed how "One nation under God, Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." had become a nation of every person and group trying to grab for themselves or their identity group, all that they could.
Instead of looking around and seeing the 'one' in all of society, flawed as it might be, we looked around for the differences. We sought out any little place where someone else had 'more' and we had 'less' and we demanded our fair share. And while we were acting like 2 year old brats, our government was being hijacked. While we distracted ourselves worrying about a new car or a new career or a raise every year so we could buy more stuff we often did not use, the banks and the government and the corporations were happy to advertise to us how much we needed their products...and they loaned us the money against our income or our homes to buy the stuff. They gave us magic cards, just swipe to pay and take it home, never a penny exchanged. It was almost like stealing...until the statements stacked up and we realized that it was our lives that had been stolen from US.
I just finished watching Simon and Garfunkel's Concert in Central Park. Magical, craftsmen of tunes at the top of their game. And freedom. Imagine, if the concert were held today, the 'security' measures that would be taken. Imagine, going to a free wheeling love fest like this concert and having to be scanned and groped to enter. Bags and coolers searched. No big slurpies allowed!
We are no longer independent. We have become the epitome of dependency. Our society has been programmed to one that walks through the day with digital media pressed to its ear. Our 'connection' has become so artificial and superficial that one strong sun flare or EMP can instantly 'disconnect us.
Even the pride of our work has been stolen from us. We are paid 'good salaries by Fortune 100 companies working with the finest minds and machines, and yet the inventions of 100 years ago have been stifled and twisted, and the product of the brilliant minds currently working for these corporations is being hijacked to destructive ends rather than the rebuilding of broken minds and bodies.
Young men and women who bought into the 'lie, who admirably are willing to sacrifice to defend the idea of that lie, America, are used and thrown aside like the debris we are leaving behind in Afghanistan.
So while many celebrate the day with burgers and beer, I, firecracker, will raise a glass to the America I once knew and the hope that somehow we can take her back and make her the shining beacon of liberty and hope and freedom. It may always have been a dream. But it was a great dream. And if I am lucky, even in small groups, I will surround myself with others who want for themselves and their children, the dream of independence to endure. Happy Birthday America. As I blow out your candles tomorrow, my wish for you is liberty and independence. Long may they live.