I've become a bit jaded over the years, over many things related to our nation, I can't say it started with reading 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' because I was already on that road, but it certainly had something to do with it. We are taught a heroic and fabled version of our nation's history, almost like reading the history of Rome. We aren't taught the dirty truth. Why? Well, there are many reasons, but would you be hesitant about teaching your children about all of your mistakes? Would you be a bit afraid they would lose respect for you? Patriotism is love for one's country, and a willingness to sacrifice for it. If you teach history in a way that reads like a heroic tale, of course youth will love it and want to sacrifice for it. We want to try to live up to the lives of the patriots we learned about, but that thought is backwards! We should learn about their mistakes, the things that went wrong, so that we can avoid those things ourselves, and truly build a better nation, not go on like the best of our history is behind us.
Our nation was built by humans, just like you and me, with the capability to do wondrous things, but also the capability to make huge mistakes. The building of our nation was without a doubt full of mistakes and man made disasters of many kinds. Now, when those patriotic prideful moments come along, I feel a twinge of anger. Our current United States is split in half. One side loathes the other side. There are power struggles going on everywhere. The United States (yeah, that's us) poisons our food, lies to our children, pollutes the earth, bows down to corporate sludge, bullies the world and still denies rights to other humans. I can not be proud of what we are, not until it changes. I'm sickened, and mostly because I was taught to love and respect our nation, and that we are the greatest, no one is better, we set the bar for the rest of the world, we are 'free', but in my self-directed educational process, I've learned that I was lied to.
I wish they had told me of all of our failures, of all of our downfalls, so that I would know about the mistakes we have made, I wish they had told me that our nation is cracked, then we all would have known from the beginning that there was work to be done, and we would all be prepared to do it. Most of us are still caught in the lie, while the few of us crying foul have the appearance of conspiracy theorists, muckrakers and doomsdayers. We need change, and I don't mean a change of office. We need to be aware of ourselves. We need to learn about our past mistakes and we need to set out to do what our nation really needs to be done in order to become the place that it really should be.
Can you imagine the force of a truly united people would be? That's what returns my patriotism. That's the thought that brings me back into beaming pride. One day, tomorrow will be history. Let's make it count.
(Steps off of soapbox)
Our 4th of July:
So the girls and I watched Liberty's Kids, one of the shows they love (okay, we all love it) that is all about the American Revolution. We've seen all of the episodes before, but it is still fun to watch. This one touched on the difference between Samuel Adams and John Adams. It also touched on the difference between a heroic act of patriotism and mob rule.
David was out of town, so we stayed home most the day. I cut the grass, divied up my first bin of finished compost among the vegetables and pulled enough weeds to finish filling up our other bin. Packed bags, washed clothes, cleaned the house. Trying to get all the chores done before we leave for Texas.
The cats brought in a blackbird with a broken wing, which made me very sad. I called around to a few wildlife shelters, then decided to just set it free. Then I had remorse over doing so, but I just can't keep a wild bird for a few days until someone from the wildlife center in Lyons can come and get it. It didn't want to be in a box. It's violent flapping was heartwrenching for me and I could stand it no longer.
The girls were really excited about fireworks! They had heard them in the neighborhood going off last night and occasionally would see a big one pop in the air and react with squeals of delight. We contemplated getting on the roof to see more, but the shingles still looked wet, and I didnt' want to stand in line with all the burn victims in the ER for our holiday.So we jumped in the car last minute, drove over to 58th and Kipling to see the Arvada fireworks. We got a good parking spot, which I think was partially because it was a little apartment complex where a patrol car had just been there to shew off other cars that had pulled in, and we came in just after the patrol car left. Anyway, we only watched for about 15 minutes, that was enough excitement for the girls to say "This was the best 4th of July ever!" which made me laugh, because we have certainly had more exciting holidays in the past, but they are so in-the-moment, which is where I need to be. I'm just a bit off-center lately. :)
Hope your day was everything you wanted it to be!
