"We're Americans, with a capital 'A', huh? You know what that means? Do ya? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We're the underdog. We're mutts! ...So we're all dogfaces, we're all very, very different, but there is one thing that we all have in common: we were all stupid enough to enlist in the Army. We're mutants. There's something wrong with us, something very, very wrong with us. Something seriously wrong with us - we're soldiers. But we're American soldiers! We've been kicking ass for 200 years! We're 10 and 1! Now we don't have to worry about whether or not we practiced. We don't have to worry about whether Captain Stillman wants to have us hung. All we have to do is to be the great American fighting soldier that is inside each one of us. Now do what I do, and say what I say. And make me proud."
So argues John (Bill Murray), hoping to whip a lovable platoon of losers into shape for their field exercises at boot camp during the 11th hour in the 1981 comedy classic Stripes. The narrative of American supremacy has been a mainstay of our cultural heritage since 1776. Let's face it...the idea of tackling the strongest nation in the world on democratic principles was a daunting exercise in bravado over two centuries ago, and the hard-earned success of those early patriots has imbibed the modern American brand of nationalism with the same kind of intoxicated exuberance John calls upon when insisting the "great American fighting soldier" has "been kicking ass for 200 years!"
Though perhaps misguided to the point of becoming the ugly, proud American detested by much of the rest of the world, these feelings are grounded in a kind of positive mental image of the nation that, when called upon, has been incredibly constructive in urging the adoption of peace and democracy throughout the world (for the most part). If our soldiers and lawmakers hadn't had the confidence to enter both World Wars, global politics would be very different today. Like any emotional belief, however, the risk of getting carried away looms large. Independence Day thus often becomes an overindulgence of nationalistic pride, as explosives are strapped to trees, insects and relatives in an inebriated stupor that reflects the intoxication of believing America (in the sense of our government and the current population of Americans) are above reproach and unaffected by the machinations of the global political climate.
What we should really be celebrating on Independence Day are the ideas and people who established this nation on democratic principles. This is a positive way of recognizing the birth of a nation that stood in such stark opposition to the confinement of individual liberty and self-determination. John's first point, that the concept of "America" should extend to all those downtrodden underdogs who have the audacity to stand up against oppression in their lives, underscores a universality and positivity that is lacking in today's interpretation of what America is and should be. While cutting a block of dry ice for a customer at the grocery store I work at last week, I was treated to five or six minutes of a lecture on the ways in which our country is being led astray by the current administration. That's the nice part about working in retail...usually it's as close to a purely populist perspective you can get without changing your name to Huey Long.
The passionate argument of the customer (I didn't get a name, and I didn't really want one, with all due respect...) alerted me to a truth about today's American in a time of relative crisis unlike what we've seen for several generations: the terms of definition have changed from attempting to identify what America is and stands for, to what America is not and should not stand for. Several months ago, this extended to ploys from the Republican Party trying to prove the current president is not actually a citizen of the United States (which has led to some rather embarrassing snafus). Extending healthcare to all members of society is not bad fiscal policy to many Americans, it is "socialist" and therefore in direct violation of the capitalist foundations of our democracy. Immigration legislation in Arizona, Georgia (parts of which were stricken as illegal by a federal appeals court today in a trial that won't get much pub with the Anthony verdict being handed down earlier this afternoon), and Iowa further attempt to define who is American by encouraging law enforcement officials to act on hunches as to who looks un-American.
I'm not advocating making our borders completely permeable, or trusting our elected officials without any degree of scrutiny. What I'm attempting to illuminate is the fact that we take one day out of our year to define ourselves as Americans based on values exemplified in a document declaring independence and celebration of the sacrifices of so many who fought for what this country is, not to point out what it is not. Perhaps it would be more constructive and less mind-numbingly depressing to remain, at times of great tests of our American character, sure of who we are and what our values are, rather than attempting to point out what we are not and what we will not abide. Maybe then I can read a news and press release on July 5th without feeling as though I had one too many cheddar-dogs and held that sparkler bomb in my hand about three seconds too long.
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