Is it just me or do others feel less than patriotic this 4th? [View all]
Why should I? Seems our system of government, rule of law, our very Constitution has failed. That mass of compromises, held together with bailing wire and duct tape, turned out to be more fragile than many imagined. Too reliant on the will of good people to function properly was its Achilles heel. Which gets me to the root cause of failure. We the people failed.
Reminds me of Benjamin Franklin's response to Elizabeth Willing Powel's question towards the end of the 1787 Constitutional Convention... "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A republic, madam, if you can keep it." No off hand remark. He meant it. And our generation failed to keep it.
We didn't fail due to some foreign invasion, a catastrophic civil war, or some economic disaster. Hell, if anyone had reason to chuck it all, it was my depression era parents and grandparents. Imagine 1 our of every 4 people you know is jobless in 1930 with zero safety net. No unemployment pay. No Medicaid. No nothing. Just charity if you can find it.
We, on the other hand, failed because we were whiny, spoiled and don't fully understand how good we have it. Sure, there are problems. Serious problems. But are those problems serious enough to end a Republic that's withstood vastly greater challenges? The price of fucking eggs. Jesus.
But mindlessly eat your potato salad and watch your fireworks, America. That's a hollow gesture because what it represents might very well be over and what will emerge on the other side is anyone's guess. A totalitarian America? A fragmented America? It might not be what Franklin and Madison envisioned.
Apologies for the depressed rant. If you'd told me 30 years ago we'd be right here, I'd have thought that was too far out there even for Hollywood..
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