I’m a little subdued this Fourth of July, for several reasons. About a week ago, we watched O.J.: Made in America, Espn’s terrific documentary which illustrates much of our – continuing – sordid treatment of America’s black underclass. Then we watched How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change which is one of the most depressing movies I have seen in a while. Most of us, when we think about it, know that we are irredeemably trashing the planet but seeing the actual results is horrifying.
Still, this is our National Birthday and our country, improbably, is still here even if we don’t live up to our self-hype. Our local Metro had a Fourth cover story, 101 Ways to Make America Great Again and I thought What a great idea. Their first item was Don’t build a wall, which gives you a general idea of where they are coming from, and several other ideas I liked were, Make it harder to buy a gun than rent an apartment, Teach Prince’s music in schools, and, my favorite, Stop wishing rape on rapists.
It got me thinking, what would I like to see to Make America Great Again. Two I came up with were Bring back the pre-Reagan tax rates and Make Land Grant Colleges almost free again. I would love to hear some other ideas. In the meantime,
Happy Fourth Of July!
I felt a little edgy too, Steve. I sat at our parade with all the whooping, and patriotic songs and red, white, and blue; and thought about all the misery in this country today. I’m not knocking what we’ve got, and especially how so many have fought for it, but I mourn the decline we’ve seen since 240 years ago. This is so NOT the land of the free (for all). We are NOT the greatest country on earth. Occasionally I ask someone by what measure they make that statement. The answer is usually “freedom.” The majority of the world’s countries are free, and I just can’t justify saying we are the greatest, when, with 20% of the world’s population, we consume 80% of the world’s resources. I don’t want God to bless America, so much as I want Him to bless the Earth.
I agree, Gail. We consume 80% of the world’s resources – and everybody seems to want more – and, with our wars and energy use, we pollute the planet more than anybody but China. It is not the world I thought we would leave our Grandchildren.