A few contradictions about the 4th

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, History, Holidays, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

I find celebrating this Independence Day to be a bit macabre, rather like throwing a big birthday bash for someone who was just murdered, but then I lean toward pessimism these days. Fortunately, our friend Keith reminds us of all the times this nation has started down the wrong path but managed to turn back around. Let’s work toward turning it around yet again, shall we? Thank you, Keith, for these reminders and for your continued reminder about engaging in civil discourse rather than lowering ourselves to the level of the ‘other side’.

musingsofanoldfart

Today, folks in the US are celebrating the 4th of July which is known as Independence Day. It is an important day, but what it meant was an idea of independence from Great Britain. We still had to fight for it. And, we should not forget there were many in our country who remained loyal to the crown and did not want indpendence.

I think this last point gets forgotten, but it is a precursor to what makes this construct created by our founders so lasting. Our citizens consistently disagree with each other on issues. This disagreement is not new, nor is it always civil. And, it has been violent on occasion. But, most of the arguments have been traceable back to power.

We argued about slavery from the outset which led to a civil war. When a landowner’s human assets are his most valuable possessions, it is hard to…

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11 thoughts on “A few contradictions about the 4th”

  1. Sheila mentioned someone form the USA she knows through FB posting up they would not be celebrating the 4th July.
    (Since some extremist suggested the 6th January should be a public holiday I guess it’s only a question of time before folk start openly celebrating 12th April, the date fort Sumter was fired on by the Confederate Forces)

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    • Many of us chose not to celebrate this year … what’s to celebrate? People here in da hood felt differently and set off fireworks ’til the wee hours for FOUR STRAIGHT F*CKING NIGHTS! I’m so glad that pseudo-holiday is over.

      And yeah, given half a chance, they will likely turn the arrival of the first slave ships into a holiday, or perhaps the day the Trail of Tears began. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Yeah we get that here.
        Used to be 5th November. and New Year. Now the damn things go off for nights on end.
        I noticed a couple of years back one of the large Pet Stores in our area were selling packs of ‘tranquilisers’ for pets to get them through this.
        I think it’s Sweden which have put in legislation to have only noiseless fireworks.

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        • Our moggies hide out under the sofa and I often wish I could join them … but, I no longer fit under there. I would not give ’em tranquilisers, though! The cure could be worse than the original problem. I don’t mind a fireworks show with the pretty kind that go up in the air, but these are just noisemakers … just for the sake of making a racket. Sweden, eh? The Scandinavian countries always seem to be out front on humanitarian issues … could be why they are always at the top of the World Happiness Index, eh?

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  4. Pingback: A FEW CONTRADICTION ABOUT THE 4TH. |jilldennison.com | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

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