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On this Independence Day I am reminded of all those who have sacrificed for my freedom, following the example of your Son, Jesus Christ. Let me not take my freedom, both physical and spiritual, for granted. May I always remember that my freedom was purchases with a very high price. My freedom cost others their very lives.
"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour." --- Frederick Douglass
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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I thought that the 4th of July celebrates our colonial forefathers who secured our freedom from George III, whether they fought, provided provisions to the army, or in any other capacity.
"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour." --- Frederick Douglass
And then the slavery thing comes up.... and our Independence should mean a lot to them too. First, Lincoln was a Republican!!! Second, 300,000 whites died in the war that freed slavery. Need more?
If you don't like the freedoms of our country, LEAVE!
And then the slavery thing comes up.... and our Independence should mean a lot to them too. First, Lincoln was a Republican!!! Second, 300,000 whites died in the war that freed slavery. Need more?
If you don't like the freedoms of our country, LEAVE!
God Bless our Armed Service Personnel and Vets!
Rather weak defense. Simply providing a quote that I think of when the July 4th crowd starts in with their mindless flag-waving. If you're a true patriot, you should have no problem confronting its history.
Not sure what political parties have to do with anything.
July 4th is not about war or soldiers, except maybe the Revolution. It's about the ideals this country was founded on, which it has yet to live up to. Your childish little rant is about as far away from that as it gets.
Rather weak defense. Simply providing a quote that I think of when the July 4th crowd starts in with their mindless flag-waving. If you're a true patriot, you should have no problem confronting its history.
Not sure what political parties have to do with anything.
July 4th is not about war or soldiers, except maybe the Revolution. It's about the ideals this country was founded on, which it has yet to live up to. Your childish little rant is about as far away from that as it gets.
For those of us not fortunate enough to be as bright and well-informed as you are, I am hoping you could be specific and save us from this menial task of guesswork. You expressed your opinion that this country has not lived up to its ideals. I am frustrated on your behalf, since you're clearly disappointed.
I was hoping I can become a little bit smarter by reading your opinion as to how this country can live up to what you think its ideals are. Provide us a plan, or someone else's plan that meets your enlightened approval, so that perhaps we can one day achieve those ideals.
I will even give you a strawman. I am someone who thinks this country is not perfect, but beats every alternative. Therefore, I am proud to live here and even hang a flag on my house. Please save me and others like me from our own ignorance. You seem to enjoy doing that given your other posts, so I am anxiously awaiting your prescription. Thank you in advance!
For those of us not fortunate enough to be as bright and well-informed as you are, I am hoping you could be specific and save us from this menial task of guesswork. You expressed your opinion that this country has not lived up to its ideals. I am frustrated on your behalf, since you're clearly disappointed.
I was hoping I can become a little bit smarter by reading your opinion as to how this country can live up to what you think its ideals are. Provide us a plan, or someone else's plan that meets your enlightened approval, so that perhaps we can one day achieve those ideals.
I will even give you a strawman. I am someone who thinks this country is not perfect, but beats every alternative. Therefore, I am proud to live here and even hang a flag on my house. Please save me and others like me from our own ignorance. You seem to enjoy doing that given your other posts, so I am anxiously awaiting your prescription. Thank you in advance!
I appreciate the sarcasm. It's really well-done. I don't need you to create a strawman. You're clearly more thoughtful than the OP here.
America certainly is one of the best. Doesn't beat all alternatives though - pretty much any objective measure of quality of life will show you that. Western Europe and Canada have us beat by a long shot. Studying how they achieve that would be a start.
We've fallen short of our ideals in many ways - housing policies, our separate justice systems, the massive corporate influence on politics. The way we treat our poor is pretty reprehensible - mass incarceration, short life expectancies, the crowds in California blocking a bus full of desperate child refugees just this week.
The problem with patriotism is that it shuts down discussion. I simply responded to a quote about July 4th with another quote about July 4th. I'm proud of this country, but instead of simply waving a flag, I choose to reflect on all of its history - the bad parts included.
The Jefferson quote I was responding was utter hypocrisy. Should we not remember that?
I appreciate the sarcasm. It's really well-done. I don't need you to create a strawman. You're clearly more thoughtful than the OP here.
America certainly is one of the best. Doesn't beat all alternatives though - pretty much any objective measure of quality of life will show you that. Western Europe and Canada have us beat by a long shot. Studying how they achieve that would be a start.
We've fallen short of our ideals in many ways - housing policies, our separate justice systems, the massive corporate influence on politics. The way we treat our poor is pretty reprehensible - mass incarceration, short life expectancies, the crowds in California blocking a bus full of desperate child refugees just this week.
The problem with patriotism is that it shuts down discussion. I simply responded to a quote about July 4th with another quote about July 4th. I'm proud of this country, but instead of simply waving a flag, I choose to reflect on all of its history - the bad parts included.
The Jefferson quote I was responding was utter hypocrisy. Should we not remember that?
First, thank you for the compliment. My sarcasm is certainly far wittier than the average sarcastic poster. I kid, I kid. By the way, I respect your response to my obvious sarcasm.
I imagine we would probably agree on quite a few things and disagree on some. I have no problem with the bulk of your post or even many of the specific points, setting aside that you provided the list of grievances I was expecting - while not really addressing my primary question, which was about alternatives. Yes, we can look to Canada and Western Europe, but can we change our national DNA to resolve those differences any more than we can bring "enlightened" change to other countries so that they have what we assume to be a better quality of life? I surely do not think so, Afghanistan and Iraq being the most recent examples. A bit of an extreme analogy to be sure, but the point is a nation's core values rarely change on a dime. Maybe over several generations. We have made excellent progress in some areas over the last 50 years.
Additionally, much of what you wrote depends on what one considers to be quality-of-life. American DNA would primarily say that freedom and having choices trumps certain things like nationalized healthcare. French DNA would say they are much more comfortable with government control (to an extent). There's also a massive disparity of income in Western Europe just like there is in United States. The unemployment rate is much worse there, the poor there, I strongly suspect, would very much tell you they are not well taken care of. That is not a uniquely American problem and I find it is a frequent left-wing argument to talk about the mistreatment of our poor here versus supposedly more "enlightened" democracies. Without statistics at my disposal as I am at my neighborhood pool, I would also suspect that the "poor" of many other democracies would prefer to be "poor" in the United States.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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July 4, 1776 is the day that the Continental Congress approved the final draft of the Declaration of Independence. The day has nothing to do with honoring the military. Memorial Day honors war dead & Veteran's Day honors veterans.
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