Let’s Have One Party This Fourth of July
By Nick Reiher
So, our country is going to be 250 years old in a few days. Not really that old by some standards, say Great Britain and all the Chinese and Egyptian dynasties. But pretty impressive.
I was about to enter junior year at Gordon Tech High School in Chicago when the nation celebrated the Bicentennial in 1976. There was a lot of hoopla that year and a presidential election where Jimmy Carter became the first person from the deep South elected since Civil War days.
There was a lot of flag waving, American flag waving. We had just pulled out of Vietnam the year before, and we were ready to put that behind us, unfortunately forgetting about those veterans until fairly recently as well.
Personal computers were starting to become a thing. The United States refused to recognize Palestine as an independent state. There were mass school shootings. And the Cold War was in high gear.
Most people still thought highly of the media, especially after uncovering the Pentagon Papers and President Nixon’s downfall. I couldn’t wait to get into journalism school, and I studied my butt off.
What we have seen since then has been the usual mixed bag, including issues that seemed to be a good idea at the time that have not aged well: computers; cable television news, deregulation and trickle-down economics.
As we approach the country’s 250th birthday, we have not been more divided since the Civil War, largely due to the above factors that aged like week-old fish.
There have been times we came together as one in the past, showing national pride: the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980; the too-few months following the 9/11 tragedy; and, well … let me think for a while …
A colleague once told me Democracy was designed to last only 200 years. Does that mean we have been living on borrowed time since the Bicentennial? In too many ways, we have been rolling back 50 years or more on some the gains we made in treating each other not only as Americans, but as human beings.
Empathy has been in short supply, and it shows. Of course, we want what’s best for ourselves and our families and friends. But we seem to have forgotten to share that good fortune, thinking it will diminish what we have.
“I made it, and so can they. Pull themselves up with their own bootstraps.” And then I met a man who had no boots.
“My parents didn’t spare the rod, and look how I turned out.” Yes, let’s.
“People on SNAP shouldn’t be able to buy food that’s bad for them. I know they buy booze, steaks and lobster already.”
Really? Where do I sign up?
Helping people get back on their feet, or on their feet at all, hurts no one. And, improving their status in life helps our economy as a whole.
Are there abuses? Yes. Fix them. Don’t throw out an entire program. Eliminating funding for a crucial issue doesn’t make the problem go away. It makes it worse. And ultimately, if we want to be unempathetic about it, it makes it worse for all of us.
As we approach the Fourth of July, I hope all this means we are in our “Terrible Two Hundreds.” I pray this division will heal. I know it will take a long time. But we have to start somewhere.
And now is as good a time as any.
Happy 250th, America. May we once more be “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.
