Thursday, July 5, 2007

Thoughts on July 4th

When you live in the Bay Area, July 4th is less of a serious occasion and more of an opportunity for people to talk about the many ways in which our country is fucked up.

As Adam tends to put it: "We could be better."

Yes, but we could also be much worse. I don't see July 4th as an opportunity to tout how perfect we are, but rather to celebrate the positive parts of our democratic experiment. As someone who's traveled and lived outside the United States, I know how unique this place is -- for better or for worse.

I'm no rabid patriot. There are things that this country does terribly wrong. But criticizing it just to be cool is just as faddish as blind acceptance.

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