You can’t tell me what to do!
And what’s in it for me?
That explains how America came to be, and the American mindset in a nutshell.
In 1776, the British instituted a wealth tax on anyone with multiple bales of tea, cotton and /or tobacco, and refused to lift the mask mandate they had instituted. The latter was ‘necessary’ to protect against the newest variant of Scarlet Fever.
Colonists rebelled against the tax, as well as the mask mandate. But they did agree to wear those funky three corner hats, because they just made “common sense” for SPF protection.
Of course, all that led to war, which the Colonists won in ‘decisive’ fashion. It helped not having a real army that could be defeated, that the long boat ride just to fight a war caused serious Armada lag, and who wanted to shoot anyone wearing one of those cool hats?
One of our ancestors actually served in the Colonial Army. While he wasn’t physically able to fight, he was held as a hostage.
Peace was finally agreed to, and we were granted our freedom (USA!USA!), the right to drink coffee, and permission to trash the English language. The British retained the rights for former Monty Python members to host SNL, two NFL games per year to be played in London (Ben Franklin being a shrewd negotiator, insisted upon the Jaguars), and members of their Royal family to trash the other members on our talk shows.
So we are free, that is what July 4th is all about.
My Father was a proud veteran, this was his favorite holiday, and we had plenty of July 4th traditions.
We would spend the morning making July 4th cards for friends and family, my Mother would make potato salad resembling George Washington, we would grill hot dogs and shape them to spell “Bite it King George”, and the day would conclude by shooting fireworks at the homes of our neighbors “who weren’t born here”.
America really hit its stride on the “What’s in it for me” thing, which was re-branded Capitalism to make it sound more altruistic. (As an aside, an executive order was recently signed which “promoted competition”, which I was sure was what defined Capitalism. It was hailed as “an Executive Order”!).
Perhaps its generational – my Father, his Father, etc. – have all expressed concerns about the future of our Country, and I share their concerns. Not all of them, a lot of their weird skin conditions having been cured, but the ones about where we are headed as a nation.
A frightening trend is our inability to agree on anything – though half of us do agree on any given issue – and getting pretty nasty as we disagree. The “If you disagree with me, I will destroy you personally and/or professionally” is not a good look, and the anonymity of social media is a contributor. Not sure where people got the impression that anyone cares about their opinion – of course, that doesn’t apply to these posts.
We can’t even agree on our heroes. A new museum is opening where the statues are holograms, and the observer projects their own content: The Unknown Patriot is whoever you admire! That’s for now – new historical details may make you change your projections…
And is everything an existential crisis, or what? Even the giant asteroid hurtling toward us from deep space?
At least we still have free speech, and can express our opinion.
Enjoy it while you can…
Mama Don’t JJ Cale
“Mama don’t allow no guitar playing round here,
We don’t care what Mama don’t allow, gonna play our guitar anyhow”
Blame it on Cain Elvis Costello
“Once upon a time I had a little money,
Government burglars took it before I could mail it to you honey”
Invisible Man Elvis Costello
“There’s a good film showing tonight, where they hang everyone who can read and write,
That could never happen here – but then again it might”
Road to Joy Bright Eyes
“And when you’re asked to fight a war that’s over nothing,
Its best to join the side that’s going to win”
The Great Leap Forward Billy Bragg
“It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline,
But on the Che Guevara Highway filling up with gasoline,
Fidel Castro’s brother spies a woman crying over luxury’s disappointment,
So he walks over to sympathize with her, But he thinks that he should warn her,
That the 3rd world is just around the corner.”
“The revolution is just a t-shirt away!”
Anonymous Post: It ain’t your guns they want, it’s your voice” (recently removed)
Can’t believe you would disparage your beloved Jags like that! Happy birthday America!