Reflections on Independence Day
Reflections on Independence Day
By Andrew Blumberg
On this Independence Day, it behooves us to take a moment to remember how our nation came to be in that fateful year of 1776. Our founding fathers were not gods, nor were they devils. They were men, mere fallible, imperfect men. They did not find their souls imbued with the raw strength from the collective wills of a nation not yet born, striving to carve and fashion the Declaration of Independence out of the stone of liberty or the rock of freedom. Nor did they sit as a council of conniving oppressors, conspiring to shackle the downtrodden to their poverty and circumstances so that they could enjoy the fruits and ill-gotten gains of their malevolent labors. They were simply human beings. They squabbled, bargained, argued, commiserated, and eventually many of them even bled over the birth of this nation. Disagreements arose among them, as did fear, resentment, anger, concern, apprehension, and every other human emotion one faces in a time of adversity. Yet, in the end, through all the questions and uncertainty and human flaws, they created a document, and a nation, that recognized the potential of a people to achieve great things, and which sought to realize those ideals.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We take those words for granted now, but they stand for some of the purest and, if you’ll pardon the term, some of the most revolutionary ideas ever to take hold in the hearts and minds of a people. The very thought that every person is entitled to these rights by mere virtue of their being a living, breathing, thinking individual reached further and aimed higher than nearly any society before them. It was a promise that the founding fathers themselves, flawed men that they were, could not keep. Nevertheless, those ideals stand just as firm and worthwhile as emblems of our collective aim. We as a nation try to do justice to them. On today of all days, we should remember what they are.
Life - the right to one’s own continued existence. Liberty - the freedom of each person to chose their own path, to make their own mistakes, to learn and live and love as they see fit. The Pursuit of Happiness - the right of each individual to decide for themselves what makes them fulfilled, what makes their life worth living, and the freedom to seek it out, on one’s own terms. These are the ideals. They are aspirations toward something greater than ourselves. We as a nation, and a society, do not always make good on these guarantees. Lives are lost. Liberties can be curtailed. Happiness is not always ours to pursue. Still, the power of these ideals and the beliefs that come with them inspire and encourage us. We are raised to believe that by virtue of these rights, we can achieve anything, that we have the power to find what affirms and sustains us and to go after it with everything we have. Even when we fall short, we do so in pursuit of these lofty goals.
Our nation, like our founding fathers, is neither perfect nor sinister. It is not always the shining city on a hill, the land of opportunity, or a country of true, unabated justice and equality. Nor is it the great satan, a blight unto the world, or a mere pack of boorish, brutish, selfish swine. As it often does, the truth lies somewhere in between. We are a nation of much to be proud of and much to make amends for. We are a nation of great achievement. We are the nation that landed on the moon, that found cures for diseases and ailments, that has produced some of the most important scientific discoveries and some of the greatest works of our time. We are a nation that has seen tensions rise, but has also seen an overwhelming number of peaceful transfers of power. We are a nation that has produced writers, scholars, scientists, athletes, entrepreneurs, activists, leaders, thinkers, and many other kinds of great men and woman who have improved and inspired the world.
Yet, we are a nation with many black marks on the canvas of our past, that we cannot ignore. Bigotry, persecution, violence, hatred, and the practices and institutions that come with them have tarnished the pages of our history and cast long shadows into our future. We are also a nation that has taken great steps and made great strides in overcoming these mistakes. We are a nation that endured a civil war, but which saw the slaves gain their freedom and which became united once again. We are a nation that felt the shocks and quakes of civil unrest, but which saw the enjoyment of these cherish rights finally extended to all regardless of their gender, the color of their skin, their spiritual beliefs or non-beliefs, and irrespective of where they came to this great nation from. Again, we do not always meet these lofty aims, but each day we strive toward them. We are a nation that has made significant mistakes, but which seeks to continue to make these promises and ideals a reality.
It’s important not to lose sight of that. We as a nation, we the people, the United States of America, are a people who have at times faltered, but who aspire, now as we did in 1776, to achieve great things. Every day, I try to live up to that legacy. Especially today. May the United States of America and its citizens remember the aspirations of its founders; may we not forget the grave missteps in our history, and despite it all, may we continue to reach toward those shining ideals and achieve them with ever more success and joy. Happy Independence Day.
By Andrew Blumberg
On this Independence Day, it behooves us to take a moment to remember how our nation came to be in that fateful year of 1776. Our founding fathers were not gods, nor were they devils. They were men, mere fallible, imperfect men. They did not find their souls imbued with the raw strength from the collective wills of a nation not yet born, striving to carve and fashion the Declaration of Independence out of the stone of liberty or the rock of freedom. Nor did they sit as a council of conniving oppressors, conspiring to shackle the downtrodden to their poverty and circumstances so that they could enjoy the fruits and ill-gotten gains of their malevolent labors. They were simply human beings. They squabbled, bargained, argued, commiserated, and eventually many of them even bled over the birth of this nation. Disagreements arose among them, as did fear, resentment, anger, concern, apprehension, and every other human emotion one faces in a time of adversity. Yet, in the end, through all the questions and uncertainty and human flaws, they created a document, and a nation, that recognized the potential of a people to achieve great things, and which sought to realize those ideals.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We take those words for granted now, but they stand for some of the purest and, if you’ll pardon the term, some of the most revolutionary ideas ever to take hold in the hearts and minds of a people. The very thought that every person is entitled to these rights by mere virtue of their being a living, breathing, thinking individual reached further and aimed higher than nearly any society before them. It was a promise that the founding fathers themselves, flawed men that they were, could not keep. Nevertheless, those ideals stand just as firm and worthwhile as emblems of our collective aim. We as a nation try to do justice to them. On today of all days, we should remember what they are.
Life - the right to one’s own continued existence. Liberty - the freedom of each person to chose their own path, to make their own mistakes, to learn and live and love as they see fit. The Pursuit of Happiness - the right of each individual to decide for themselves what makes them fulfilled, what makes their life worth living, and the freedom to seek it out, on one’s own terms. These are the ideals. They are aspirations toward something greater than ourselves. We as a nation, and a society, do not always make good on these guarantees. Lives are lost. Liberties can be curtailed. Happiness is not always ours to pursue. Still, the power of these ideals and the beliefs that come with them inspire and encourage us. We are raised to believe that by virtue of these rights, we can achieve anything, that we have the power to find what affirms and sustains us and to go after it with everything we have. Even when we fall short, we do so in pursuit of these lofty goals.
Our nation, like our founding fathers, is neither perfect nor sinister. It is not always the shining city on a hill, the land of opportunity, or a country of true, unabated justice and equality. Nor is it the great satan, a blight unto the world, or a mere pack of boorish, brutish, selfish swine. As it often does, the truth lies somewhere in between. We are a nation of much to be proud of and much to make amends for. We are a nation of great achievement. We are the nation that landed on the moon, that found cures for diseases and ailments, that has produced some of the most important scientific discoveries and some of the greatest works of our time. We are a nation that has seen tensions rise, but has also seen an overwhelming number of peaceful transfers of power. We are a nation that has produced writers, scholars, scientists, athletes, entrepreneurs, activists, leaders, thinkers, and many other kinds of great men and woman who have improved and inspired the world.
Yet, we are a nation with many black marks on the canvas of our past, that we cannot ignore. Bigotry, persecution, violence, hatred, and the practices and institutions that come with them have tarnished the pages of our history and cast long shadows into our future. We are also a nation that has taken great steps and made great strides in overcoming these mistakes. We are a nation that endured a civil war, but which saw the slaves gain their freedom and which became united once again. We are a nation that felt the shocks and quakes of civil unrest, but which saw the enjoyment of these cherish rights finally extended to all regardless of their gender, the color of their skin, their spiritual beliefs or non-beliefs, and irrespective of where they came to this great nation from. Again, we do not always meet these lofty aims, but each day we strive toward them. We are a nation that has made significant mistakes, but which seeks to continue to make these promises and ideals a reality.
It’s important not to lose sight of that. We as a nation, we the people, the United States of America, are a people who have at times faltered, but who aspire, now as we did in 1776, to achieve great things. Every day, I try to live up to that legacy. Especially today. May the United States of America and its citizens remember the aspirations of its founders; may we not forget the grave missteps in our history, and despite it all, may we continue to reach toward those shining ideals and achieve them with ever more success and joy. Happy Independence Day.