Bright lights, big city !

Today was the 4^th of July – Independence Day in the United States and a cause for celebration. Celebration of what, though? While politicians try to outdo eachother in making today a celebration of small government; lower taxes; large families; Paul Rivere’s ride (shout out to Sarah Palin); a hypothetical division of church and state – a few things occurred to me…

Boston hosts one of the largest firework displays in the country on the 4^th, over the waters of the Charles River. We had the chance to experience this as residents for the first time and the incredible connection which New Englanders have with the revolution and the shape of the US.

The first thing I notice is the level of patriotism on display out there tonight. Not the politicized patriotism that we used to get a peep at when I was in the UK – those caricatured moments come through false filters and don’t represent the people here – but the type of deep feeling that comes from a belief in their position and direction. It is similar to the patriotism that I saw in Paris on Bastille Day – French people celebrating where they are today and what they’ve gone through to get there.

Why do the British not do this?

The British had a revolution – but stopped short of truly instilling power with the people. They went to a middle ground with landed-gentry, lords and a symbolic royalty that tore and ripped the fabric of revolution from that important moment.

Perhaps that is why I rarely saw this level of patriotism while I grew up. In England, very patriotic people would give voice to their feeling almost apologetically, as if embarrassed by it. Today I saw faces bright with hope and voices loud in song and no-one seemed to feel shyness at the spectacle.

And in case you don’t know Boston, the faces were white, brown, black, yellow and everything in between. They were first, second, third generation and beyond.

That said, this summer I did see something that made me proud in my British upbringing. Much the same as the wedding of Charles and Diana, the wedding of their son seemed to energize and elate the entire country in a way that was almost childlike in it’s innocence and refreshing in completeness. That day, the world was British and enjoying that great and splendid affair.

At times I find the US a strange place. You’ll find all types here – all views in the spectrum – something that Britain had in far fewer numbers. The masses in Europe occupy a much more centrist viewpoint and the few differences tend to highlight the many similarities in views. In the US, your power and your voice is only heard at the edges of the spectrum. The noise is so great that to be heard, you have to be radical, to be radical you have to be controversial.

Moving a country like the US on it’s a journey is a daily battle for these people who believe that any effort in self-government has to be painful – it is how the country was born and it is how the country is governed. Elections are wars. The Senate is a battlefield and the White House is the key to power. But somewhere along the way they lost the spirit of the battle and the reason for why they wage war.

Somewhere, the wish to self govern became a question about whether I should pay higher taxes to support my neighbor or just worry about myself and my own.

The turning away from an aristocracy got lost for lifting up families with name recognition as better than the rest – Kennedy, Rockefeller, Bush.

The right to practice your faith in peace became a terrible trend towards intolerance and religious persecution of non-Christians.

It occurs to me that my son will grow up in this environment.

A place where patriotism exists and you can be proud of your homeland. But also a place where recognition of other peoples and ideas is muted by the wide gulfs of the Atlantic and Pacific. Perhaps, that is why the coastal cities of the east and west US are populated by the more open minded and forward thinking in the country.

If things keep going this way, in the US and the world, where we strip away our rights, expect less from ourselves and neighbours and demand less from our leaders - there are going to be revolutions. Not the timely but minuscule rebellions of the Arab Spring but something more global and more total - any long term attempt by a few to profit by the pain of the masses ends and ends violently... Eventually, Rome will fall.

I hope I do a good job of preparing my son for his role in those times.

Frequent readers of my comments will notice that I hate to call the United States by another name – America. That is because AMERICA is not a country – it is a continent. Canadians are Americans, Mexicans are Americans – as much as US Citizens. It’s a small point and those of you not in the US will not appreciate the importance of the distinction – but the usurpation of the term by US Citizens serves to demonize those of foreign descent. Watch 'The Color of Fear' - the distinction and it's power is made clear in this movie.