May the 4th not be against you
Jul. 4th, 2011 12:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anansi133This is the first year I remember people telling me to "have a happy 4th" I'm sure it's come up in previous years, but I just don't remember noticing.
It's getting harder and harder to feel OK about America for me these days. My nation is in trouble and I don't know what to do about it- but waving a flag and shooting off a bottle rocket doesn't feel like it.
Actually, my impulse for today is to go to an indian reservation someplace and volunteer to shovel the stables or dig a ditch, or scrub a toilet. Kind of like the thanksgiving impulse to volunteer at a soup kitchen. (and of course, the time to make such arraignments is long before the actual holiday.)
My primary un-partner (don't ask!) brought be back a quill pen set from Boston, and for herself she brought back a facsimile copy of the declaration of independence. Funny thing about that document, to read it feels *way* more subversive than the constitution. The laundry list of complaints seem kind of familiar- except that in this era, we don't have such a convenient target for such ire. Who's the bad guy in this era? It's a much more chewy question than in it was in that day.
I was thinking about what it would feel like to sign my John Hancock to a similarly risky document today... and I couldn't imagine it. This older document gives me all the permission I need to do what I feel necessary for my well being and that of my countrymen. What it does not do, is bind me to the corrupt political system, rigged elections, and power brokerage that I've inherited from my forefathers.
So the question that niggles at my mind today, is what kind of American do I want to be on a day like this? Something like the Move to Amend feels like a good start
http://movetoamend.org/
but by itself it seem like too little too late. there's the socialized medicine issue, everyone's heard about that one, but again, what good is medicine when I can't keep the air and water from being poisoned?
No matter what the problem you decide is most pressing, it's not feasible to do anything about it without a functioning political system. I don't know anyone who seriously believes that this is a real representative democracy we live under.
I don't know, it's hard to know what to say on July 4th, in the same way it's hard to mark September 11 or August 6 in a way that doesn't disrespect somebody. Today is complicated. I hope no one out there loses any limbs or homes to fireworks, and I hope no one gets thrown in the lake who doesn't want to be.
It's getting harder and harder to feel OK about America for me these days. My nation is in trouble and I don't know what to do about it- but waving a flag and shooting off a bottle rocket doesn't feel like it.
Actually, my impulse for today is to go to an indian reservation someplace and volunteer to shovel the stables or dig a ditch, or scrub a toilet. Kind of like the thanksgiving impulse to volunteer at a soup kitchen. (and of course, the time to make such arraignments is long before the actual holiday.)
My primary un-partner (don't ask!) brought be back a quill pen set from Boston, and for herself she brought back a facsimile copy of the declaration of independence. Funny thing about that document, to read it feels *way* more subversive than the constitution. The laundry list of complaints seem kind of familiar- except that in this era, we don't have such a convenient target for such ire. Who's the bad guy in this era? It's a much more chewy question than in it was in that day.
I was thinking about what it would feel like to sign my John Hancock to a similarly risky document today... and I couldn't imagine it. This older document gives me all the permission I need to do what I feel necessary for my well being and that of my countrymen. What it does not do, is bind me to the corrupt political system, rigged elections, and power brokerage that I've inherited from my forefathers.
So the question that niggles at my mind today, is what kind of American do I want to be on a day like this? Something like the Move to Amend feels like a good start
http://movetoamend.org/
but by itself it seem like too little too late. there's the socialized medicine issue, everyone's heard about that one, but again, what good is medicine when I can't keep the air and water from being poisoned?
No matter what the problem you decide is most pressing, it's not feasible to do anything about it without a functioning political system. I don't know anyone who seriously believes that this is a real representative democracy we live under.
I don't know, it's hard to know what to say on July 4th, in the same way it's hard to mark September 11 or August 6 in a way that doesn't disrespect somebody. Today is complicated. I hope no one out there loses any limbs or homes to fireworks, and I hope no one gets thrown in the lake who doesn't want to be.
