Independent Thinking

It’s the fourth day in July, which makes today a holiday here in the United States of America, where we celebrate breaking away from being a colony of England.

Copyright Reba Spike on Unsplash

Those days feel very long ago now.

When I was a kid, we used to get together at my grandmother’s house in a small town in suburban Philadelphia. Pretty much everyone wore red, white, and blue. There were competitions for “best-dressed bicycles” and for baby carriages, there were awards for “most patriotically dressed family” (possibly not what it was called, but that was the gist) and for best-dressed pets. There were sack races and three-legged races, and cotton candy, and lemons stabbed with a lemon candy stick to use as a straw.

At night, there were fireworks.

We would go over in the late morning for the daytime stuff, head home for a bit, then walk back in the evening to sit on the grass and watch the fireworks. Sometimes we had dinner at home, sometimes we carted it with us to the park.

A glance at the current calendar assures me that some of it IS a very long time ago. Fifty years or so, in fact.

Which reminds me that I was 12 when the U.S. had its bicentennial.

The U.S. Bicentennial was a big fucking deal.

We spent a full school year getting excited about the bicentennial, starting in the fall of 1975. At the time, I ilved in the Philadelphia area—I spent the first half of the school year at Ardmore Junior High (long gone now), and the second half at Upper Merion Junior High. Upper Merion is very close to Valley Forge National Park, and to be honest, I think part of the backyard of the house we were staying in at the time was technically park property.

In Home Economics, we made bonnets and long skirts. We spent a full week in the one-room school house on the grounds of Valley Forge. We learned all sorts of things about the Revolutionary War, and the Declaration of Independence. We took trips to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell (which had just moved to its own pavilion to enable more people to see it).

We watched the musical 1776 as a school. We learned patriotic songs in music class.

I watched as a wagon train of covered wagons from all over the United States arrived at Valley Forge. I touched President Ford’s hand along the rope line, the day he came to the park. I waved at the car when Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip drove by in downtown Philadelphia. There were commemorative coins, and some of the best fireworks I’d ever seen, since several countries sent their best displays for the celebration. I recall that Italy and China had truly impressive displays.

The Semiquincentennial? The vibes are off.

This year marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia. Only recently did I learn that the proper term for this is the Semiquincentennial (half of 500 years).

The term itself feels unfinished: half of 500 years, with a very real question hanging in the air as to whether this country will make it for another 500 years. Will it remain intact? Can we reclaim a democracy?

It’s hard for many people to muster enthusiasm for a celebration of what this country currently is. I will point out that that is on purpose, since the current administration has done what it can to break as many safeguards and destroy as many beneficial programs as possible.

Many of the official events organized by the federal government have been twisted into celebrations of the current leadership, a paean to the guy who has literally torn down half of the White House. Events that have always existed as celebrations of the country are now celebrations of one man and his cruelty.

Like I said, the vibes are off.

So it’s no wonder that this year doesn’t feel especially celebratory, and that lots of folks don’t even know the word “semiquincentennial”, only knowing it as “America’s 250th birthday.” There was a big education push in 1976 to make sure everyone knew what a bicentennial was; that sort of education doesn’t appear to be undertaken by the press anymore.

Still, there is good in this world.

A power couple got married yesterday, and ahead of their celebration they gave $1 million donations to 26 different charities, mostly aiding children and people who need food assistance. Having read a few reactions from people who work for those specific charities (and others who work for charities not benefited by these gifts), it’s clear that those donations are life-changing amounts of money for many of those organizations, and will benefit many people.

Mayor Mamdani of New York City delivered a beautiful speech yesterday, seated in front of George Washington’s desk and flanked by new U.S. citizens. The drawers of the desk were facing the public, as if we were the important person seated at the desk, and he was “reporting” to us. It was a lovely moment, and you can watch his speech here.

You are also part of the good in this world.

I know this, because truly the only people who read my blog are friends and followers who I know to be lovely people.

You want to make the world a better place. It’s likely you’ve made your own charitable donations recently, or are preparing to. You are working to help those around you, whether it is at home, at work, in your community, or in the wider world.

Likely you wish you could be more excited about the state of the United States, and therefore a bit more enthusiastic about its birthday (whether you live in the country or not). Likely you wish that the programs to help those in need (both inside the US and abroad) had not been the ones cut by the current administration. Likely you wish that we could admire the leaders in charge of the country, which is rough right now in more places than just the United States.

Keep standing up for what is good, whether that means lobbying for policies or making the best potato salad. Keep doing what you feel to be right, even if some of the folks around you don’t have the energy or the desire to do the same.

When the 13 original colonies broke away from England in 1776, it was pretty unclear for a while what would happen next. Heck, it was unclear at the time whether all 13 would even sign onto the Declaration of Independence—several nearly didn’t. It wasn’t until 1783 that they created a Constitution and an actual new country. They got there by taking small (and sometimes bigger) steps every day to make it happen.

We can do the same. We can keep doing what we know to be right and just and good. My guess is we will know by 2033 whether the sun is still rising on America, or is setting.

One small step at a time.