This Independence Day, there is no shortage of ways to celebrate. Over the weekend, there will be pancake breakfasts, foot races, live music, Air Force jets over Silverton and, of course, fireworks – including at Vallecito (on Friday night). The ever-popular Bayfield parade is at 10 a.m. on the Fourth of July, with Durango’s that evening at 6 p.m.
And all that is fitting, because despite the indisputable problems facing the United States, an honest appraisal of the state of the nation would suggest that Americans have plenty of reason to celebrate.
By its very nature, news is often bad. No one reports the planes that do not crash, the highway accidents avoided or the troops resting safe and sound. Moreover, what with the seemingly always tense international situation, an economy still struggling in some ways and our dysfunctional politics heading into an election year, there is no shortage of bad news.
But the real story of the Fourth of July is that 239 years after declaring its independence, the United States is the most successful nation in human history.
That goes beyond wealth and power. This country is a continent-wide empire with a global reach. But it has been absorbed for several decades in expanding the rights of its citizens, as well as making its environment cleaner and healthier, and its society more civil – all the while maintaining a remarkable level of individual liberty.
Are there also darker trends at work and problems to address? Of course. Is the direction the country has taken arguable? Certainly, and always. In a democracy, there is no end to arguing.
But consider what just a few of those arguments are about.
Just last month, the Supreme Court extended the right to marry to all Americans, regardless of their sexual orientation. What in the past were some of the most reviled people in our society sought and won the right to accept responsibility.
Likewise, the high court ruled in such a way as to help further the extension of health care to all Americans. In part, what that reflects is that the argument has gone past considering whether all Americans should have access to health care.
Of course, we worry about our continuing involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, what to do about ISIS or Iran or terrorism in general. And with a presidential election in the offing, we are sure to hear more about curbing illegal immigration.
All are serious and sometimes divisive issues. But how many people in human history have been able to talk back to their leaders and openly question the conduct and purpose of a war? What is wrong with a national debate in which the central issue is how best to provide health care to everyone? And what does it say about a nation when one of its biggest problems is that too many people like and admire it enough to want to move there?
Debate is the soul of democracy, but there is also a time to celebrate. As a nation, our glass is more than half full.
Happy Independence Day.
