Friday, July 4, 2008
Independence Day has always been my favorite holiday – partly because of the grandeur of fireworks, of course, but there's so much more to it than that. I have always loved the Fourth of July more than New Year's, Thanksgiving, or the high holidays. Why? Because this holiday is about one of the most basic blessings anyone can have – liberty.
I'm not going to write about the usual patriotic stuff today. I'm not going to write about war, or sacrifice, or our Founding Fathers, as important as these topics are. Instead, I'm just going to say something rather simple, and that is this: liberty is about being at peace.
When I was a small boy, probably about ten or so, I realized something that turned out to be very important. I never verbalized it, but it was a very real observation nonetheless. I realized that America is supposed to be a meritocracy, whereas the Old World hierarchy was based on inheritance, favoritism, and intimidation. As I've gotten older, I've learned that even America is not immune from these vices, but that at least we have safeguards against them. And that's because, at her core, America is about respecting the basic value of all people.
Throughout our history, we have violated this principle. We've had the Salem witch trials, warfare against American Indians, slavery of Blacks, denial of suffrage to women, and the oppression of the working class. All of these things are a blemish on our proud heritage because, unfortunately, America has often emulated the dirtier, nastier habits of her Old World forebears, with the same dreadful result of alienation.
When I was ten, I realized that, in Eurasia, a person inherited nobility from his parents. Thus, the child of a baron became a baron or baroness, and the child of a king became a king or queen. And going further back, the child of an emperor stood to inherit not only the rule of a particular country, but control over an entire region and many diverse peoples as well. As a ten-year-old American child, I was aware that America had no monarchy, and that here, one had to earn distinction for oneself. That was when I semi-consciously resolved to value knowledge and pursue education as far as I could. For the most part, I think I have honored that commitment.
That moment, however, was more about personal achievement and drive, and less about national priorities or philosophical principles. Now, at the age of 32, I look back on that formative experience, and I realize its significance even more concretely, but now in the much wider context of America's value as a country and system of government.
Despite the power struggles in our country's history, we still have no king, queen, or emperor. We have no dukes or barons. We have only elected mayors, governors, congressmen, senators, and presidents. I hope you understand how profoundly important this is. We are a nation of some 300 million people, and we control half of the entire North American landmass. In addition, our influence spans the entire globe. Yet thankfully, we continue to evade the blight so euphemistically known as “nobility.”
Of course, I'm not naive. I know we are controlled by powerful groups who run our country and its cultural empire, and who, through networks and nepotism, keep this power tightly in their grasp. In both the public and private sectors, as well as behind the scenes, there are obscenely wealthy, greedy people pulling the strings of our economy everyday. But at least America still nominally stands for what she's always stood for, and that’s liberty.
What is liberty, and who has it? Is it the freedom to watch TV on the weekend? Yes. Is it the freedom to drive your car whenever you like. Sure. Is it the ability speak your mind and not fear persecution for doing so? Absolutely. But these are all just different manifestations of the same thing, and that is the ability to be at peace with yourself, other people, and the world around you. America was unique in being the first among organized nations to secure this right, and since then, many other nations have thankfully done the same. But in our sophisticated, 21st Century world, it's easy to forget that this was once the norm for simple-living people all over the world.
Let us not forget that the human species is some 100,000 years old, and that for most of that time and even into the modern age, people have lived in small communities consisting of only about 200 individuals. Such people did not have the scientific and historical information available to us, but they knew things about the natural world that we are only now rediscovering. These people were like us – neither angels nor demons – but simply folks trying to live their lives. But unlike us, or at least unlike what we've become, they were content to be themselves and not impose their ways on others.
That's peace. That's liberty. Such people wake up everyday to greet the Earth and her creatures, and welcome each new day with the people who share their lives. Such people are more grounded in reality, and less burdened with worry. Such people are free. There was a time when people all over the world lived like that, in Africa, Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas. No, their lives were not perfect, and where such lifestyles persist, they're still not perfect. Nevertheless, this way of life is only natural for people, and we should not be surprised to see how well it works.
America is unique in that it tries to blend the village with the nation state. It tries to give people a voice, even though it encompasses lands far beyond the reach of their own community. Can such a system endure? Yes, but not if we continue down our current path. As Americans, we are very diverse, but we profess our love of liberty, and most of us really mean it. Is our current way of life in line with our ideal? No, because with our current restlessness, we cannot be free. Look at all the ways in which we are not at peace.
On the home front, America is obsessed with consumption. Oil. Plastic. Wood. We have an insatiable desire to erect new structures, build exurban neighborhoods, and buy electronics we don't need. Is this what we want, to build and buy until we're exhausted? Does this make us free? No, it turns us into slaves. Why do we do these things? It can't be because we actually enjoy having nice things, because we're all too despicably busy to enjoy them. It couldn't be because we want to travel and see the world, because we have less vacation time than any other country. It couldn't be because we like fine dining, because most of us touch the keys on our microwaves more often than we touch each other. It couldn't be for the sake of our friends, because Americans spend less time in the company of their friends than ever before. And it couldn’t be for our families, because our divorce rate remains high, and our kids interact with the TV more often than with us. Maybe it's just to keep up with the Joneses, and prove to everyone that we're as good as, if not better than, the next person - whatever that means.
As a country, we seem just as greedy internationally as we do domestically. Is it really so vital to build another fast food restaurant on the other side of the planet? And what's with all this nation building anyway? Do we really need to install yet another puppet dictator in the Middle East? Do we really need to build even more obscenely powerful weapons? You've heard of the military-industrial complex. Well, it's alive and well, and you and I are paying for it every week – and all we get in return is more pollution and more political strife.
For those of you countering that we need these things to protect ourselves from our enemies, I'll grant you that point, but only insofar as we live in the world that we have helped create. Maybe with a little less greed, we'd have a little more peace, and a little more liberty. And for those of you enraged that I would criticize my own country on her birthday, you can relax for two reasons. One, America is not the only country playing this nauseating game of greed and conquest, so we can all be guilty together - and we can all change for the better together, too. And two, this may be trite, but I see just how beautiful America and her principles are, and it hurts me to see us fall so short of what not only we could be, but what we really are. So, here's to you, my beloved America. May you be at peace and free at last!
Gaddy Bergmann
http://www.GaddyBergmann.com
