Live Every Day Like the Fourth of July

A great piece from Garrett Albenesius

I love the Fourth of July—American flags hanging off front porches, fireworks lighting up the sky, family and friends getting together and drinking a little too much beer. It’s a uniquely American holiday, and I’m a uniquely American guy.

But sometimes I get the impression that the Fourth is a day of all talk and no walk. Sure we parade down the streets, pledge Allegiance, and sing “Proud to Be An American” four or five times throughout the course of the day—but what about when the day is over?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Lady Liberty. But all of the tacky decorations and annual gatherings don’t seem to amount to anything at the end of the day. When July 5th rolls around, politicians will resume slandering one another, civil rights will continue to be repressed, and discrimination will still lead to hate crimes from border to border.

It begs me to ask the question: what happens to our sense of patriotism after the Fourth has passed? Why is our national discourse so…coarse?

Read the whole thing.