#78 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Sunday July 4)
Happy Independence Day!
Only five more years until the Sestercentennial…
That’s right; in five years it will be the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Sadly, it seems like just yesterday when we celebrated the bicentennial. At the time, there seemed more to celebrate, perhaps a bit because the word for the celebration was much simpler. Young people today will be able to revel in the simpler “tricentennial” later this century…
But as bad as things may seem, with political polarization, climate change (sorry, my recalcitrant friends, but it’s real), racial discord, pandemic hangover, increased isolation of the individual, and a confusing economic situation, we remain the greatest experiment in a free people exercising their franchise and pursuing their desires in a mixed economy that encourages people to innovate, work hard and enjoy life.
I’m not sure where the craven anti-democratic election restrictions will take us, how many more of us will arm to the teeth, and whether mass shootings become as common as “going out of business” sales at the local rug merchant, but perhaps—just maybe—we can find common ground in our shared beliefs in the sanctity of the individual and the goal of a more just society, where those less fortunate than we are offered help as they struggle to stand up.
It won’t happen with college students demanding that every perceived misstatement, transgression or incorrect reference should result in the shunning or firing of great professors. It won’t happen if the viewers of Fox are willing to accept that the January 6th uprising was “just a bunch of tourists” or were a “false flag” operation orchestrated by the FBI. It won’t happen if we continue to “cancel” each other (cancelation is coming from both the left and the right).
E pluribus unum. We need a little more acceptance of the pluribus. And we need to strive to find more unum.
I, for one, hope for understanding and awakening. With all its flaws, this country remains a great ideal and, despite its repeated failings, has spawned a remarkable string of successes that have advanced humankind through technology, science, the supremacy of the law, manufacturing, innovation, justice, and inclusion.
Enjoy the fireworks,
Glenn
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