Its Inependence Day!!....or is it?
Hmmm....remembering back to my 4th of July where everyone was having a fun time barbecuing, doing fireworks, having fun chatting. Wow it was such an eventful day for everyone but me. Guess what they were barbecuing, PORK. PORK!! THATS A PIG NOOOOOO. How could they still smile despite having done such injustice to the pig and grill it :(
 |
| Barbecue |
I was so angry. Everyone was so happy while a pig lost its life. It made me question, Why are we celebrating Independence Day?
This question always popped in my head around the time and I never really gave it much thought and just went along with the flow. This week, in class, we read 2 passages that made me laugh at the mentality of people. Do we consider Independence Day a holiday or a true day to shine our patriotism?
I read a passage called the Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell. In it she describes many instances where she questions whether she deserves to be called a patriot or not due to many incidents that happen in the history of the US. As I read the passage, it started occurring to me. Do people really understand the true importance of Patriotism. We have fun, call family friends over and party, but are we really celebrating the fact that July 4th, is the day we were officially an independent country with no ruling. Is our celebration today the same as it would have been with the tears and happiness when the actual independent nation was declared back in the time?
Our true patriotism only shows when something big shakes up the country, for instance 9/11. Cries and hatred for the terrorists that costs such a big loss came out, but putting a flag outside of your house, are you really remembering America all the time and being grateful for the land we stay in today?
As Sarah Vowell quotes
“The true American patriot is by definition skeptical of the government.”
This quote signifies how, if you really are a patriot, you should be able to differ what the wrongs and the goods for the country are, and whether what action the government takes is always the best one. It represents subtly how, we all are blindly following the government, given the assumption that the big upper officials of the country are always the right one.
I love your little 4th of July story! It's such a common activity done on that day that really questions how grateful we are. I feel like we treat Independence Day as just a resting day, a simple reason to light fireworks, have barbecues, and to take a day off from work, practice, or summer school. It's pretty true that many Americans are only patriotic because of certain events. We're not consistently patriotic every day, but even if we are, we don't actually appreciate all the history and struggles that made this independent country today.
ReplyDeleteI like your intro to this blog, it is very engaging and provides a nice juxtaposition to the more serious topic later on of how Americans celebrate Independence day and whether their feelings are for a true purpose or not.
ReplyDelete