On the Fourth of July
I was excited to see what the Fourth of July would be like in Egypt. The American embassy throws a shin-dig that's supposed to be amazing. But, not realizing it was on the 3rd of July (since the 4th is on Friday, the Muslim Holy Day, and heavy drinking and celebration would probably be frowned upon) I missed it because I went to Coptic Cairo with Kelly, then spent the night at a shisha bar smoking and talking philosophy with some friends.
I probably had more fun doing that than I would have getting drunk with a bunch of meat-heads (no offense to the Marines out there who are friends and family and whom I love... Ooh-rah! and all that). But today, being Friday, is devoid of any indication that it is, in fact, America's Independence Day. But I've been thinking, so here goes...
First, a word about the Fourth of July. Why do we celebrate 4 July 1776, the date of the Declaration of Independence, instead of celebrating 17 September 1787, the date the Constitution was adopted? I guess to me the obvious answer is that we're celebrating our COUNTRY, not our GOVERNMENT. As my family members - and the few people who have seen me drunk - can tell you, I hate the government, all governments, horrible people one and all. So don't lynch me, radical friends, for what I'm about to say. I am not a jingoist. But my country! America! That's a whole other story.
I love my country, I love my city, I love my people. Mostly I think it's just because my family lives there, and it's where I happened to be born. If I'd been born in Munich, I'd love Germany. But I wasn't. I was born in Chi-town baby! And being in Egypt, which is about as different as you can get from being in America, has given me a few little insights.
Egypt has us beat when it comes to community, to family, to caring for one another unconditionally and without expectation of reward. Kindness for the sake of kindness. When someone's car breaks down on the side of the road, they never stand outside with a cell phone pressed to their ear. As soon as they get out, there are two or three or four cars pulled over behind them, people getting out to see what they can do to help.
Egyptians are WAYYY more relaxed about things that I'm used to. It took me a full two weeks to realize that slow service at a restaurant wasn't bad service, it was POLITE service. "Stay a while, relax, we won't bother you with constant questions." On the road, nobody pays attention to the lanes and the roads are chaotic, but nobody cuts anybody off, and you can often hear people yelling directions to complete strangers, car to car. Of course people in Egypt fight. In fact, Egyptians are emotional roller coasters, super happy, supper sad, super angry. But when they're angry, they yell. They yell and yell, but it almost never comes to blows. It seems never to cross their minds that they could resolve the conflict with violence (Imagine that! They're so backward!).
There are many things Americans could learn from Egyptians. But there are many things we do better. Everything in Egypt takes five more steps than it should. I have new appreciation for American efficiency, the American way of life that values reason and hard work. We value our farmers; in Egypt they are scorned as 'aamel. Laborers. People tanned by the sun. In America, we respect a tan for basically the same reason.
I love our spirit, our conviction. We don't have as many traditions, and that's good! Tradition is safe like a cage. Down with tradition! Up with reason! Your answer to "Why?" should never rest on tradition. There is no virtue in doing things the way they've "always been done." That's why America, despite all that's wrong with it, dominates the world. I think Bill Maher summed it up well:
"They hate us because we do what we want to do. Just the way people think Americans are too blessed and too free, and it makes them nuts in their dreary hovels of Kabul and Tikrit and Lubbock, Texas. They pray to their threadbare gods that we'll get what we deserve, but it won't happen because we'll always keep you guessing."
(New Rules, P.72)
I wish we would stop being jerks to the rest of the world (and to our own less fortunate citizens), but I do have a new respect for that adventurous, fearless spirit that makes America so great! Right or wrong, we're unpredictable and impossible to contain. We wear tie-dye into fancy restaurants, we jump fences and trespass to see new sights, we go to the Moon for no reason at all except, as JFK said, "because [it's] hard." And because we couldn't bear the thought of someone else doing it before us.
I want to see the world. I think America would be even better if we would take a few lessons from other peoples. Thinking you're the best doesn't mean thinking you're perfect. And let's not rest on our laurels! We must keep improving! I love the laid-back kindness of the Middle-East, but would I trade my brash United States for any other country? Not in a million years.
I probably had more fun doing that than I would have getting drunk with a bunch of meat-heads (no offense to the Marines out there who are friends and family and whom I love... Ooh-rah! and all that). But today, being Friday, is devoid of any indication that it is, in fact, America's Independence Day. But I've been thinking, so here goes...
First, a word about the Fourth of July. Why do we celebrate 4 July 1776, the date of the Declaration of Independence, instead of celebrating 17 September 1787, the date the Constitution was adopted? I guess to me the obvious answer is that we're celebrating our COUNTRY, not our GOVERNMENT. As my family members - and the few people who have seen me drunk - can tell you, I hate the government, all governments, horrible people one and all. So don't lynch me, radical friends, for what I'm about to say. I am not a jingoist. But my country! America! That's a whole other story.
I love my country, I love my city, I love my people. Mostly I think it's just because my family lives there, and it's where I happened to be born. If I'd been born in Munich, I'd love Germany. But I wasn't. I was born in Chi-town baby! And being in Egypt, which is about as different as you can get from being in America, has given me a few little insights.
Egypt has us beat when it comes to community, to family, to caring for one another unconditionally and without expectation of reward. Kindness for the sake of kindness. When someone's car breaks down on the side of the road, they never stand outside with a cell phone pressed to their ear. As soon as they get out, there are two or three or four cars pulled over behind them, people getting out to see what they can do to help.
Egyptians are WAYYY more relaxed about things that I'm used to. It took me a full two weeks to realize that slow service at a restaurant wasn't bad service, it was POLITE service. "Stay a while, relax, we won't bother you with constant questions." On the road, nobody pays attention to the lanes and the roads are chaotic, but nobody cuts anybody off, and you can often hear people yelling directions to complete strangers, car to car. Of course people in Egypt fight. In fact, Egyptians are emotional roller coasters, super happy, supper sad, super angry. But when they're angry, they yell. They yell and yell, but it almost never comes to blows. It seems never to cross their minds that they could resolve the conflict with violence (Imagine that! They're so backward!).
There are many things Americans could learn from Egyptians. But there are many things we do better. Everything in Egypt takes five more steps than it should. I have new appreciation for American efficiency, the American way of life that values reason and hard work. We value our farmers; in Egypt they are scorned as 'aamel. Laborers. People tanned by the sun. In America, we respect a tan for basically the same reason.
I love our spirit, our conviction. We don't have as many traditions, and that's good! Tradition is safe like a cage. Down with tradition! Up with reason! Your answer to "Why?" should never rest on tradition. There is no virtue in doing things the way they've "always been done." That's why America, despite all that's wrong with it, dominates the world. I think Bill Maher summed it up well:
"They hate us because we do what we want to do. Just the way people think Americans are too blessed and too free, and it makes them nuts in their dreary hovels of Kabul and Tikrit and Lubbock, Texas. They pray to their threadbare gods that we'll get what we deserve, but it won't happen because we'll always keep you guessing."
(New Rules, P.72)
I wish we would stop being jerks to the rest of the world (and to our own less fortunate citizens), but I do have a new respect for that adventurous, fearless spirit that makes America so great! Right or wrong, we're unpredictable and impossible to contain. We wear tie-dye into fancy restaurants, we jump fences and trespass to see new sights, we go to the Moon for no reason at all except, as JFK said, "because [it's] hard." And because we couldn't bear the thought of someone else doing it before us.
I want to see the world. I think America would be even better if we would take a few lessons from other peoples. Thinking you're the best doesn't mean thinking you're perfect. And let's not rest on our laurels! We must keep improving! I love the laid-back kindness of the Middle-East, but would I trade my brash United States for any other country? Not in a million years.