I thought long and hard about what to write about this fourth of July. America seems like it's gone a little crazy. People are intense about things in ways they haven't been in a long time. People are going crazy and going on shooting sprees.
I think it comes down to Tribes.
Hundreds of years ago, America was occupied by roaming, competing tribes, who would vie for territory, resources, food, honor. We haven't changed much in the last few hundred years, either. And it's no surprise! Tribes are survival- a group of like-minded-folks, banded together against those crazy bastards who don't think like us, don't act like us and don't look like us. You can't trust those others. They are Up to No Good.
East coast, West coast...Conservative, Liberal...Christian, Muslim...Yankee, Southerner...Texas, Everybody else. Gun advocates, Gun Control advocates. Religion in schools Vs. separation of church from state. Bayformers fans Vs. Geewunners. Star Wars Vs. Star Trek. DC Vs. Marvel. Comics Vs. Movies. The "Biased Liberal Media" vs. the "Fear and Balanced Conservative Media". Black Vs. White.
All of them tense and ready to fight right now.
Lots of folks blame 45, Donald J. Trump for this. "He's making people more racist/sexist...etc." Trumps has said he's not racist...(secret fact! Any statement starting with the words "I'm not a racist..." is probably going to end up racist.) It shouldn't matter whether Trump is racist, sexist, a genius or a buffoon. If anything, I think he's just lancing a boil that's been festering. In any case, using the sitting president's behavior as an excuse for your own poor behavior is a huge cop-out. Just like saying "Make America Great Again" is a poor excuse for "let's go back to when racial intolerance and sexism were the order of the day, take the vote away from Women, and give old white guys back the power and prestige they once had". We are better than that. We are smarter. We have tools that can blur the lines between us, yet sadly, we often use them to draw the lines in deeper. We need to use those tools to understand one another better and draw closer, not more divided.
We are, all of us, racist, sexist, spoiled and self-centered. When we rise up from that, step out of our little tribes and remember that we belong to a big, welcoming tribe called Americans, that is the moment we are the american heroes. When we do things for the good of many, rather than to fill our pockets or glorify ourselves, that is the moment.
Whatever else you are doing, be an american hero today. Look not at the stories that drag us down but instead at the stories that make us better, that fulfill the promise we were made 241 years ago, of liberty and justice for all. Be that story.
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Showing posts with label Patriotism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patriotism. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Monday, July 4, 2016
Independence
Independence is much on my thoughts today, Independence is very important to me. To be able to live on my own terms, doing what I need to in order to be happy.
Free to collect and display toys, free to eschew anyone who disapproves, Free to tell wild stories, to fall down cultural rabbit-holes and clamber back out, a little wiser and a lot more disturbed.
But that isn't independence. that is free will, and self confidence.
The problem with independence is that independence is a myth. We are all connected to one another in this world, We all depend on one another, and sometimes we lean very heavily indeed. We measure ourselves by our fellow beings, we depend on them to be there for companionship, for compassion, and sometimes for better judgement.
I need my Family, I need my friends, I need people I don't even know and haven't met for things I can't yet imagine. While I have been variously blind or suffocating, my sisters, parents, daughter, nieces and nephews have given me rides, or called, just to talk.
We need our neighbors, or the stranger who tells you to step ahead in line because you are carrying three items and she is carrying 10. Or even just the guy who smiles and nods, acknowledging you are a fellow human
Now, on to America. America needs it's neighbors. We need Mexico, Canada, Europe. We need the richness of other cultures so we don't stagnate, We need the competition of people who have gotten more proficient than us at something we used to excel at. We need other people.
America is like a great big friendly dog. We want to be liked, so we come to you wagging our tail. It's hard for us to understand that we are WAY too big to be up on the couch, or on Aunt Ethels lap, We don't understand when you kick us, or brandish a rolled up newspaper. We just want you to love us. So when we get kicked, you get demagogues, and oligarchs, and theocrats, and America goes a little crazy for a while.
And all the other nations need us. We all, every country, every person, need each other.
Happy Fourth of July.
As an added bonus- I took a couple of pics of a couple of my favorite american icons. Hopefully I will have the juice for a full on photo set soon
Free to collect and display toys, free to eschew anyone who disapproves, Free to tell wild stories, to fall down cultural rabbit-holes and clamber back out, a little wiser and a lot more disturbed.
But that isn't independence. that is free will, and self confidence.
The problem with independence is that independence is a myth. We are all connected to one another in this world, We all depend on one another, and sometimes we lean very heavily indeed. We measure ourselves by our fellow beings, we depend on them to be there for companionship, for compassion, and sometimes for better judgement.
I need my Family, I need my friends, I need people I don't even know and haven't met for things I can't yet imagine. While I have been variously blind or suffocating, my sisters, parents, daughter, nieces and nephews have given me rides, or called, just to talk.
We need our neighbors, or the stranger who tells you to step ahead in line because you are carrying three items and she is carrying 10. Or even just the guy who smiles and nods, acknowledging you are a fellow human
Now, on to America. America needs it's neighbors. We need Mexico, Canada, Europe. We need the richness of other cultures so we don't stagnate, We need the competition of people who have gotten more proficient than us at something we used to excel at. We need other people.
America is like a great big friendly dog. We want to be liked, so we come to you wagging our tail. It's hard for us to understand that we are WAY too big to be up on the couch, or on Aunt Ethels lap, We don't understand when you kick us, or brandish a rolled up newspaper. We just want you to love us. So when we get kicked, you get demagogues, and oligarchs, and theocrats, and America goes a little crazy for a while.
And all the other nations need us. We all, every country, every person, need each other.
Happy Fourth of July.
As an added bonus- I took a couple of pics of a couple of my favorite american icons. Hopefully I will have the juice for a full on photo set soon
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Independence 2015
How do I feel about being an American...
I don't feel ashamed. We do some dumbass stuff, but so does everyone. There is not a country on this planet that doesn't screw up from time to time, just sometimes in a better accent.
I guess I feel that we are always a work in progress. But this country was founded on the greatest ideals ever conceived- Life, Liberty, The Pursuit of Happiness. Not guaranteed, just the opportunity, the right to pursue your personal happiness, without infringing too much on anyone else. Freedom of expression, but try not to be 100% a dick about it.
Last post I talked about the stars and bars, the rebel battle flag. I believe people should have the right to express themselves with the rebel battle flag, Old Glory, their state flag, a flag with the T.A.R.D.I.S. on it, the rebel flag from Star Wars OR the Imperial insignia, A rainbow flag or whatever best expresses them as an individual. The trick here, is that it's about personal freedom and personal responsibility. This nation, this grand country, this amazing experiment has room for Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Buddhist, Every-ist-you-can-imagine, and it has room for those people to dialogue and hold discourse on what makes them different, what makes them the same, and what makes us all great.Whether we were lucky enough to be born here, or lucky enough to immigrate legally, or lucky enough to sneak across the border in the dead of a moonless night, what we owe America is this: Be the best you can be. Help those you can help to be the best they can be. They call America the land of opportunity, and it is. Here, you can believe it, and be it. Just remember to give back to everyone else, and don't tread on them. Remember that every right you have as an American comes with a matching responsibility. Free speech, don't be a dick with it. Second amendment...learn how to aim. And so forth.
Go out this holiday, and every day, and just be the best American you can be. Wherever you happen to live, whatever state, or whatever country. Bring whatever is best about your country and come to the melting pot.
I don't feel ashamed. We do some dumbass stuff, but so does everyone. There is not a country on this planet that doesn't screw up from time to time, just sometimes in a better accent.
I guess I feel that we are always a work in progress. But this country was founded on the greatest ideals ever conceived- Life, Liberty, The Pursuit of Happiness. Not guaranteed, just the opportunity, the right to pursue your personal happiness, without infringing too much on anyone else. Freedom of expression, but try not to be 100% a dick about it.
Last post I talked about the stars and bars, the rebel battle flag. I believe people should have the right to express themselves with the rebel battle flag, Old Glory, their state flag, a flag with the T.A.R.D.I.S. on it, the rebel flag from Star Wars OR the Imperial insignia, A rainbow flag or whatever best expresses them as an individual. The trick here, is that it's about personal freedom and personal responsibility. This nation, this grand country, this amazing experiment has room for Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Buddhist, Every-ist-you-can-imagine, and it has room for those people to dialogue and hold discourse on what makes them different, what makes them the same, and what makes us all great.Whether we were lucky enough to be born here, or lucky enough to immigrate legally, or lucky enough to sneak across the border in the dead of a moonless night, what we owe America is this: Be the best you can be. Help those you can help to be the best they can be. They call America the land of opportunity, and it is. Here, you can believe it, and be it. Just remember to give back to everyone else, and don't tread on them. Remember that every right you have as an American comes with a matching responsibility. Free speech, don't be a dick with it. Second amendment...learn how to aim. And so forth.
Go out this holiday, and every day, and just be the best American you can be. Wherever you happen to live, whatever state, or whatever country. Bring whatever is best about your country and come to the melting pot.
Friday, July 4, 2014
American Independence Day
I always like to do my own traditions- I like a few legal fireworks, makes me feel like when I was growing up...
And I like holiday appropriate movies. Here are a few examples from my own collection, that I consider to be thematically aligned with the 4th of July
And I like holiday appropriate movies. Here are a few examples from my own collection, that I consider to be thematically aligned with the 4th of July
Independence Day(naturally)
and I will be adding Transformers Age of Extinction to the list after I see it on Monday
I can't put Captain America: The Winter Soldier on here yet because they are releasing it not the week of July 4th but in September(?)
To be on this list, for me, the movies have to have lots of action, and make me feel good about being American, and these all fit that bill
I'd love to hear any of yours that fit for you
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