First off, know this: I'm very patriotic. And a Democrat. Yes. They exist.
Hello.
It's Fourth of July. AKA, Independence Day. 235 years ago, the founding fathers declared independence from Mother England. Then one of the most influential revolutions (if not THE most influential)began. The only war I've ever been excited about learning. The only revolution I made it my passion to study. I don't know jack shit about the Cold War (who were we fighting again?) or know anything about the Cuban revolt, but I could whip out some fat knowledge about the American Revolution.
It has been romanticized significantly as the American ego has grown, and I DRANK THE FUCKING KOOLAID BITCHES. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love the revolution. I love everything about it. The idea's behind it, the philosophy, the strategy, the impossibility of success-- in which we came out on top. This know-nothing, punky, underdog that took on one of the biggest world powers of it's day. We were doomed to lose. But we didn't.
That's what I love. With no chance of success, we succeeded. We did the impossible. America came out of the war on top and it's potential was heard around the world almost as loudly as the shot at Lexington and Concord.
I think I have said this before, I am in love with America's potential. We may not be a perfect country. Okay, we are not a perfect country. But we have the resources and will-power to do amazing things. The people of this country are strong. We will prevail and someday we will reach our potential.
People who have little or no hope for our government forget that our government system has forgotten themselves what our founding fathers set out to do. 235 years is a long time, and our government has strayed from the initial ideas laid out in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But that doesn't mean that those documents aren't still there. And maybe we will have an administration soon that remembers what they really mean to the people of America.
I keep a copy of the Declaration of Independence with me at all times. It's a tiny little pamphlet style booklet that I keep fortune cookie fortunes in. When I am feeling lost or ambivalent I crack open my copy and let Jefferson's words wash over me. A document like that could cure existentialism; that is if the hipsters didn't think that it was too "mainstream" and were smart enough to understand the implications of a document like that.
I went to DC when I was in eighth grade and I swear to God it was the most interesting and amazing trip I have ever taken. I cried--CRIED-- when I saw the original copy of the Declaration of Independence. There it sat, so faded it was barely even readable, in it's dimly lit room, under it's bullet-proof glass. I could've spent hours looking at it. And weeping. But our tour was moving on too fast. "Wait! Wait! Don't leave! I'm not done! I--"...
I don't think I could stop loving America. I don't think all the stupid Republicans in the world would make me give up. No governmental conspiracy theory would make me think that we are anything less then amazing.
Yes, I am niave. No, I don't think that there are not a million and one problems with this country. Yes, I live in an idealized world where America still has teenagers spending their free time at Soda Shops and that people get their most reliable gossip at the Barber's. No, I don't think that our current state of affairs should be trivialized. Yes, I know it is going to be a long hard journey to fix them.
I just believe in us. I don't think enough people believe in us. Someone's got to root for the underdog. Someone's got to believe we can do the impossible. We did it before.
Happy July Fourth Everyone.
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