Time Out for July 4th
Given that today is our nation’s birthday, and given the gloomy tone of my recent posts, I thought I’d briefly pause to consider the meaning of our collective birthday.
The nation created in 1776 was not perfect. But the extraordinary thing about our nation’s Declaration of Independence, along with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, is that they spoke to the aspirations of America, not America as it existed. We are a far different country now than we were at our founding. I’m not talking about all the advances in science and technology or the advances in living circumstances for all but the poorest among us.
The changes I’m talking about have all been in the expansion of rights, of civil rights, for all Americans. There is no comparison between the lives of Blacks today and those whose ancestors were slaves or, more recently, those who lived in Jim Crow America just 60ish years ago. Gay people are now widely accepted despite what goes on in Florida and Texas. The status of women is far different today than in 1776, drastically more liberated, if imperfectly so, and despite the retrograde decision in Dobbs. Anyone can publish just about anything at little or no cost and try to gain an audience. One man, one vote is a far greater reality than the founders ever imagined (or even wanted) even if sometimes distorted by political gerrymandering.
None of this has been achieved without struggle. None of it is perfect, while much of it is under attack, as it has always been. But whatever we have, whatever we have achieved, we have done so because the Founding Fathers created a structure for the country in which peaceful change was possible. But the Founders didn’t prescribe what those changes should be. They left it up to us, to we the people. And that is what I — what we — celebrate today. The possibility of change, of creating a more perfect union.
Happy Birthday, America.