Monday, July 04, 2005
Happy 4th of July from Atlanta.
I'm afraid I spent little of the day in meditation about Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Instead I woke up late (0800), got coffee for myself and Mrs. LivinInAmerica, watched a movie on TV (with Mrs. LivinInAmerica), went to the pool (with Mrs. LivinInAmerica), came home (with Mrs. LivinInAmerica), watched another movie (with Mrs. LivinInAmerica), and now here I am blogging (alone).
So, here I am 229 years after a bunch of rebels started a ball rolling. It took them over a decade to get rid of George III. Another 75 years after that to get rid of that original sin, slavery. At the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives.
This America. 229 years after being founded, it's the world's hyper-power. Our President talks very softly because he wields a huge stick. Against him, the rest of the world is shrill, and the more so for the tiny twig in its hands. The world's hyper-power. With no interest in empire. How about that!?!! Today, at the pool, the neighborhood recreation committee put on a barbeque: chicken, hot dogs, potatoe (Hi Dan!) salad, chips, soda (OK, I brought my own beer). It was a total mass-production, at the bottom end of the American food chain. It had to be, to feed the masses of children. Yet it was a feast beyond the imagining of most of the world's population. That, for me, sums up this America: we're rich, happy, fat, family-oriented, sharing, want the best for everyone.
As I parked the car after coming home from the pool, a couple of WWII arcraft flew over. A P-51D Mustang, and a Beechcraft C45, in USAAF and RAF regalia, respectively. Brought a lump to my throat, I have to say. I won't go on, but when it comes to world affairs, let's remember WWI, WWII, NATO, SEATO, The UN, The IMF, and a host of holding actions against world Communism.
So here I am on my HP laptop. Transistors: American invention. Microsoft XP: American invention. The Internet: American invention. Etc., etc.
How did it turn out like this? Basically, from a Copernican inversion. Instead of the European model, where Kings gave up just enough power to keep the peasants quiet, America started out by regarding the individual as sovreign, giving up just enough power to allow government to function. And here's the result: 300 million free individuals driving the wealth machine the feeds them to the point of killing them, and throws off enough to keep the rest of the worlds 6 billion from starving.
It's 21:31, and I can hear the fireworks going off around town.
I start every day thanking God I'm an American. Tonight, I'll go to bed on the same note.
I'm afraid I spent little of the day in meditation about Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Instead I woke up late (0800), got coffee for myself and Mrs. LivinInAmerica, watched a movie on TV (with Mrs. LivinInAmerica), went to the pool (with Mrs. LivinInAmerica), came home (with Mrs. LivinInAmerica), watched another movie (with Mrs. LivinInAmerica), and now here I am blogging (alone).
So, here I am 229 years after a bunch of rebels started a ball rolling. It took them over a decade to get rid of George III. Another 75 years after that to get rid of that original sin, slavery. At the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives.
This America. 229 years after being founded, it's the world's hyper-power. Our President talks very softly because he wields a huge stick. Against him, the rest of the world is shrill, and the more so for the tiny twig in its hands. The world's hyper-power. With no interest in empire. How about that!?!! Today, at the pool, the neighborhood recreation committee put on a barbeque: chicken, hot dogs, potatoe (Hi Dan!) salad, chips, soda (OK, I brought my own beer). It was a total mass-production, at the bottom end of the American food chain. It had to be, to feed the masses of children. Yet it was a feast beyond the imagining of most of the world's population. That, for me, sums up this America: we're rich, happy, fat, family-oriented, sharing, want the best for everyone.
As I parked the car after coming home from the pool, a couple of WWII arcraft flew over. A P-51D Mustang, and a Beechcraft C45, in USAAF and RAF regalia, respectively. Brought a lump to my throat, I have to say. I won't go on, but when it comes to world affairs, let's remember WWI, WWII, NATO, SEATO, The UN, The IMF, and a host of holding actions against world Communism.
So here I am on my HP laptop. Transistors: American invention. Microsoft XP: American invention. The Internet: American invention. Etc., etc.
How did it turn out like this? Basically, from a Copernican inversion. Instead of the European model, where Kings gave up just enough power to keep the peasants quiet, America started out by regarding the individual as sovreign, giving up just enough power to allow government to function. And here's the result: 300 million free individuals driving the wealth machine the feeds them to the point of killing them, and throws off enough to keep the rest of the worlds 6 billion from starving.
It's 21:31, and I can hear the fireworks going off around town.
I start every day thanking God I'm an American. Tonight, I'll go to bed on the same note.
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