Muse – The 4th

The nation has aged, yet at it’s heart immaturity continues to reign throughout. Usually the 4th and other such meaningful American holidays are a used as a time to reflect upon why we’re so great.

Personally, I wonder when the holiday is where we’ll acknowledge and discuss our faults in a constructive way, seeking paths to solve them. Never, right?

Truth be told, I rarely celebrate on holidays. I used to go to the fireworks in DC on the 4th, but after a while the frantic rush to get home, squeezing on to the roads or into the metro trains gets to be too much hassle.

The 4th is a time, some say, to celebrate our independence. And yeah, we’ve got a lot of that. Though behind it we have a lack of it as well. Our political system is about to show us that, as partisans willfully enslaved to our two major political parties prepare to squabble, bicker and backstab over replacing the Supreme Court Justice who just retired. It’s sure to be a circus to sit comfortably on the mantelpiece with our other fits of political waste.

How many millions.. perhaps even billions will be squandered on pointless commercials and fancy $1000 a plate events this time? Money that could be saved by a government that simply looks for a good consensus candidate and puts them on the bench. Money that would be better squandered on those kids in Africa you see on the TV, with their bloated bellies and empty eyes.

Somehow, I don’t really feel like celebrating this county’s greatness, or that of any other, because true greatness we have not yet reached. We’ve made some strides, sure. We’ve done some good things, that much is quite true, yet I don’t think we’ve ever really gone above and beyond the call. All of the great things we do are safe things to do or have the ulterior motive of safeguarding our way of life, which nullifies the greatness of it.

Truly great things are done without such selfish motives and done at notable danger to all that one holds dear. Yes, truly great deeds are ever so rare and precious. And rarely are they declared by those who do them, but others who look on with unbiased eyes.

In that way, we might know if this country ever does something truly great. Something that I might eventually come to celebrate, whenever it’s associated holiday rolls around. Until then, our national holidays are a good time to spend playing games and watching DVD movies. A truly relaxing set of things to do when one isn’t at work.