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July 9, 2003 Right before the Fourth of July weekend I caught an interesting bit by one of the talk show hosts on Philly’s sports radio. He made the point that secular holidays, such as Memorial Day or Independence Day, have lost much of their meaning. How many of us, he asked, pause to reflect about the sacrifices of our military on Memorial Day, or how lucky we are to be Americans on the Fourth? The answer, sadly, is probably not many. Most of these holidays are simply synonymous with grilling up some burgers, taking in a movie, or heading to the beach (the last of which I happen to prefer). This all left me wondering, as I watched the fireworks commence over Beach Haven, NJ, what the Fourth still means. It means different things to different people, to be sure, but everyone must see or feel something amid the fireworks, flags, and overall fanfare. For those Americans who have that curious self-loathing complex when it comes to their country, the Fourth probably symbolizes America at her worst: genocide of indigenous tribes, slavery, Jim Crow laws, McCarthyism, or any of the other blights - both real and perceived - on our history. Film director Robert Altman goes so far as to say that “it’s a joke” when he sees Old Glory waving. The man, of course, is entitled to his opinion. But naysayers like Altman are missing the point. Are we guilty of our share of crimes and misdeeds over the years? You bet. Nobody will argue that. However, despite our flaws, this country still represents a beacon of hope, freedom, and opportunity the likes of which we have never seen in the recorded history of man. And this isn’t just blind cheerleading on my part: we see the proof every day. People don’t hop onto rickety rafts and risk shark-infested waters to get to Morocco, but they will do that to reach Florida. We don’t mutilate our female children to deprive them of sexual pleasure, which is a common practice in the Islamic world. Mass graves are not being uncovered outside Washington - not so Baghdad. Families don’t stow away inside cargo containers for sweltering trans-ocean voyages to Shanghai, but they will if the destination is San Francisco. The list goes on and on. The same naysayers will accuse us of being imperialists whose only goal is to establish world hegemony through “economic colonialism.” What nonsense. Never before has a nation with so much power used it so judiciously and with such remarkable restraint. From a perspective of sheer military might, we are the Rome of our day and could have, if we so chose, an empire that stretched from the North Pole to Tierra del Fuego and beyond. But we don’t. A handful of island protectorates and military outposts hardly render us the war-mongering colonial power that the America-bashers make us out to be. So, as the grand finale faded and I drained the last of my beer, I came to the conclusion that the Fourth is not about our faults. It’s about the timelessness of the Bill of Rights, the ingenuity of the Wright Brothers, the courage of Martin Luther King, the sacrifice at Omaha Beach, the audacity of the Apollo program, and the compassion of countless humanitarian relief efforts. And for at least one day a year the cultural relativists and America-bashers can, in my opinion, go pound sand. In Beach Haven, New Jersey, if they so choose. They’ve got the freedom. ------------ About Matthew Bastian: Recovering socialst, part-time drummer, long-suffering Brewers fan, and all-around beach hound, Mr. Bastian lives in central New Jersey. Email Matthew Bastian: mbastian19@hotmail.com Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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