Today is not Independence Day. Of course, according to the sticklers, neither was the 4th of July. It's good to have perspective on these things. That said, July 4th is probably just as good a day as any given the fact that the principal at which the Declaration was aimed didn't receive it anyway for at least a few more weeks.
But that's not what I'm writing about.
Independence, the one secured by our ancestors, was not just about shrugging off a monarchic rule from across the sea. It wasn't even just about mending an unjust economic situation. It was also about a more basic independence, the right to self-determination. The right to myob.
While it has taken some time for us to recognize the right as belonging to each and every individual, not just land-holders or men or whites, we have hewed to the principles the Framers laid out more often than not. There have been and continue to be regrettable lapses, but the absolute best thing is that the natural tendency to self-determine how we change as a society is encoded into the base principles.
It's easy to see vitriol on the Internet from any given political faction. It is a credit to you if you can stomach the bile spewing forth. But no matter your views, you are free to myob. And you are free because men stood against not just some king, nor even just (just!) an army that was better-trained and funded, but against those who would deny them self-determination. That we may bicker in the public square (if that is our business) without fear of government reprisal is their gift to us, because we are the government.
There are many exceptions, because two hundred years of organic representative republican democracy has its twists and turns. There was, and is, great injustice. There was, and is, us vs. them. We slaughtered the native peoples of these lands rather than check our expansionist greed. Political parties, which Washington (he of the thirty goddamned dicks) warned against, are what run government today. The struggle over basic human rights tore us in two, of which rift echoes are still felt. More recently we have tried to export our brand of democracy at the barrel of a gun, in the Middle East and elsewhere. Plants that humanity has been using for thousands of years have been made illegal, and hundreds of thousands of people who harmed no-one in partaking of these plants sit in prison. But we are still a nation of laws--laws which are written, enforced, and deliberated upon by those among us, rather than those above us. Despite assassinations, civil war, and innumerable social injustices, for all our tarnish, rust, and decay, we are still essentially continuing in the spirit of our founders.
If I were to offer any criticism of our system, it would be a simple one aimed at the culture of career politicians. Term limits. By an accident of history, it wasn't until the middle of last century that we saw the need for presidential term limits. What surprises me is that this did not extend to the legislature as well. (Though, as I read, I discover a deeper history than I had suspected. Indeed, it appears that tradition held sway until World War II.) We need to remember that our duty to our country, by serving in elected office, is performed poorly when our activities are curtailed by the need--and desire--to continue to be re-elected. We erode our status as a representative of the people, and start to step above the people.
That criticism makes me no less proud to be born here, and to have the opportunity to serve this country in every way I can. (That I have not been selected for jury duty is a deep shame of mine.) Mindful of history, ever studying to improve my understanding, I think about Independence Day and feel grateful. To those who died and those who lived, for all that they have done toward a common end--that we are still independent. No.
Free.
But that's not what I'm writing about.
Independence, the one secured by our ancestors, was not just about shrugging off a monarchic rule from across the sea. It wasn't even just about mending an unjust economic situation. It was also about a more basic independence, the right to self-determination. The right to myob.
While it has taken some time for us to recognize the right as belonging to each and every individual, not just land-holders or men or whites, we have hewed to the principles the Framers laid out more often than not. There have been and continue to be regrettable lapses, but the absolute best thing is that the natural tendency to self-determine how we change as a society is encoded into the base principles.
It's easy to see vitriol on the Internet from any given political faction. It is a credit to you if you can stomach the bile spewing forth. But no matter your views, you are free to myob. And you are free because men stood against not just some king, nor even just (just!) an army that was better-trained and funded, but against those who would deny them self-determination. That we may bicker in the public square (if that is our business) without fear of government reprisal is their gift to us, because we are the government.
There are many exceptions, because two hundred years of organic representative republican democracy has its twists and turns. There was, and is, great injustice. There was, and is, us vs. them. We slaughtered the native peoples of these lands rather than check our expansionist greed. Political parties, which Washington (he of the thirty goddamned dicks) warned against, are what run government today. The struggle over basic human rights tore us in two, of which rift echoes are still felt. More recently we have tried to export our brand of democracy at the barrel of a gun, in the Middle East and elsewhere. Plants that humanity has been using for thousands of years have been made illegal, and hundreds of thousands of people who harmed no-one in partaking of these plants sit in prison. But we are still a nation of laws--laws which are written, enforced, and deliberated upon by those among us, rather than those above us. Despite assassinations, civil war, and innumerable social injustices, for all our tarnish, rust, and decay, we are still essentially continuing in the spirit of our founders.
If I were to offer any criticism of our system, it would be a simple one aimed at the culture of career politicians. Term limits. By an accident of history, it wasn't until the middle of last century that we saw the need for presidential term limits. What surprises me is that this did not extend to the legislature as well. (Though, as I read, I discover a deeper history than I had suspected. Indeed, it appears that tradition held sway until World War II.) We need to remember that our duty to our country, by serving in elected office, is performed poorly when our activities are curtailed by the need--and desire--to continue to be re-elected. We erode our status as a representative of the people, and start to step above the people.
That criticism makes me no less proud to be born here, and to have the opportunity to serve this country in every way I can. (That I have not been selected for jury duty is a deep shame of mine.) Mindful of history, ever studying to improve my understanding, I think about Independence Day and feel grateful. To those who died and those who lived, for all that they have done toward a common end--that we are still independent. No.
Free.