Indepenence Day

[Exbzurg]

So pretty much everyone knows that tomorrow, July 4th, is the USA's Independence Day. I have a few pet peeves with this holiday. While I understand that most holidays are just an excuse to slack off and enjoy one's self with no regard to actual meaning of the holiday, I feel that Independence Day is something that should be more important to citizens of the Union than other holidays. My first pet peeve is people's total ignorance of the reason we have the holiday. Sure most people know it is the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but a lot of people don't know much more than that. You rarely hear about the continental congresses that helped draft and sign the declaration or much else about the early struggles the country went through before and after its conception. If you were to ask people about the actual war, I doubt many people would know much about it.

The second thing that bothers me is the blinding patriotism. I mean yes I get that it is one of the main things to do on this holiday, but some people take it to extreme lengths. Where I live (not far from Atlanta, Georgia) the people here pretty much recite all of the patriotic things (like the pledge of allegiance, the national anthem, and other things like the service related songs) at all of their gatherings, whether it be church services or the pre-fireworks barbecues. You'd probably get your ass kicked around here if you didn't appear at least slightly patriotic on this day. Now my problem with this comes back to my first point because a lot of these people don't even know or care about the details surrounding the origins of our nation, yet they blindly follow all of the patriotic themed stuff.

The third issue I have is kind of a general issue I have with people all the time, but it is really apparent on the 4th, and that is foreign bashing. I hear this a lot from the people I'm around but on the 4th its like people make up excuses to bash other nations. Last year I overheard some people talking about 'how great it was that we celebrate the 4th while the people in *communist* Europe can't because they ain't free'. I'm not making that up, I actually heard a conversation like that at a neighbor's bbq party. A big theme is French bashing, which I find ironic because they were a key part in the colonists defeating the British in more than one major battle of the revolution.

Anyways it might just be where I live, but I can't even bring these points up in a normal discussion without being called out as being unpatriotic and risking an ass-whooping. And this makes me a sad panda. I will still however go out and celebrate, because after all holidays are really about just chilling out and having a few beers while blowing shit up, but part of me is going to be bothered by the people who are bastardizing this holiday.

TL\DR: Uneducated and blindly super-patriotic people piss me off.

/rant

[Exbzurg]

Aw crap, of course I misspelled 'Independence' in the topic title. I noticed the error the split second after I clicked submit. Sorry about that.

[Fallen Angust]

^, ya, my life depends on this shit right fucking here.

[SAS25]

I dont give a damn about the independance of America. For me it is an excuse to get off work, get really drunk and burn a few flags with fireworks.

[_TS_]

I'm pissed off at America for celebrating Independence Day...why should we celebrate?

What have we done to deserve this holiday?

The America of today has allowed the government to become almost despotic (Patriot Act, Guantanamo bay, anyone?)

July 4th is a day to celebrate the independence of our country from an oppressor we fought to free ourselves from.

-If we don't preserve our freedom and independence, then why should we celebrate July 4th? Chains aren't a very good party decoration...unless you're into that kind of thing.

We should think about the sacrifices our forefathers made, and not throw away their gifts so carelessly.

[blackfox26]

Originally Posted by Exbzurg

The third issue I have is kind of a general issue I have with people all the time, but it is really apparent on the 4th, and that is foreign bashing. I hear this a lot from the people I'm around but on the 4th its like people make up excuses to bash other nations. Last year I overheard some people talking about 'how great it was that we celebrate the 4th while the people in *communist* Europe can't because they ain't free'. I'm not making that up, I actually heard a conversation like that at a neighbor's bbq party. A big theme is French bashing, which I find ironic because they were a key part in the colonists defeating the British in more than one major battle of the revolution.

This really doesn't bother me that much. Just about every other nation bashes the US anyway. There is a strong anti-American sentiment in France, and we helped liberate them during World War 2. I find this equally ironic.

[switchblade089]

Does it really matter whether or not the people celebrating really understand why they're celebrating? They get the general idea, we declared ourselves free from the tyrannical reigns of Britain. That is the most important idea there is to remember on the 4th, that if you are being oppressed, it is your right and duty to break free from that oppression. I really could care less about EXACTLY how the decalaration went down, what matters is that it did, and that we remember why it did. Most people understand this, and the ones that don't are the ones who will be relying on the ones that do, in the end. I think it's a miracle that there is still any patriotism in this country, it's surprising really, what with all the horrible publicity our government receives these days. I hear more America bashing on the 4th than any other country.

[_TS_]

Originally Posted by switchblade089

I hear more America bashing on the 4th than any other country.

We're just reminding ourselves that we need to live up to our forefathers. If we didn't, we wouldn't be able to call ourselves the best country in the world, anymore, would we?