Hi Miriam,
Good post.
I must say that joining this list over ten years ago has helped me to see
the light as regards the United States.
In the past, I had always felt that the injustices that are part of our
history were unfortunate, but, for some odd reason, (probably brainwashing),
I was proud to be an AMErican for at least the first 30 years of my life.
Then, in the 1990's, I experienced some injustice of my own and read Howard
zinn. That's where my evolution began. I began to believe more and more that
maybe the entire history of America is an injustice perpetrated first upon
Native Americans and Africans and then upon all minorities and the poor.
Yet, I noted that many from other nations continued to come to America in
search of a better life. So, I thought, perhaps, in spite of all the
injustice, America maybe is a better place to live than most other nations.
I continued to celebrate the Fourth of July as the anniversary of our
independence from the British Empire. Given our growing income inequality,
our constant and jingoistic wars of occupation and control, I decided that I
can no-longer in good conscience celebrate the Fourth of July. I'm sure that
my family and friends will want to get together and barbecue and shoot off
some fireworks. I'm thinking that if I participate, I'll be a hypocrite. On
the other hand, if I stay away, I'll be depriving myself of some awfully
good eats and boy do I love to eat. Perhaps I'll enjoy the meal and then
lose myself in a book while the rest of it goes on.
Further thought leads me to believe that most people here on Planet Earth
have no reason to celebrate the birth of their nations.
Bob Hachey
