What are we celebrating on the Fourth of July?

In 1776 American colonists fought for freedom against a mighty empire, an act of self-determination we still celebrate on the Fourth of July. But we also use the Fourth to maintain a mythology about our role in the world that, while mostly true in 1776, is wholly false 226 years later.

In 2002, we are the empire.

As this holiday comes to a close, i am still asking the question that got me into so much trouble for so many years. Call me unpatriotic, call me a cynic, call me a psycho, but i still don’t get how we can stand up every year and celebrate our systematic oppression of people worldwide under the guise of independence and freedom. We are not free and we will not be free until all people are truly treated equally, respected as individuals and permitted to pursue their notion of happiness in a society of mutual respect. We will not be free until we tolerate everyone’s differences and respect their decisions and needs. We will not be free until we value others’ needs over our own. We will not be free until we stop raping, pillaging, bombing, massacring, hating, all under a flag with an artificial notion of liberation. We will not be free until we lay down our privileges and stand up for those for whom we’ve made life untolerable.

And until we truly try to seek freedom, i will continue to turn my back to the man who is not the president of me. And no matter how much i crave the beauty of fire, no pretty pyrotechnic explosion can convince me to stand falsely united under an oppressive flag or a colonialist pledge or participate in an event that flaunts a bomber plane.

we drove the car to the top of the parking ramp
on the 4th of july
we sat out on the hood with a couple of warm beers and watched the fireworks
explode in the sky
and there was an exodus of birds from the trees
but they didn’t know we were only pretending
and the people all looked up and looked pleased
and the birds flew around like the whole world was ending

No matter what your cause, i just don’t think that war is ever noble.