Works In Progress - July 2003 - Dissent and Independence Day

Years ago, I sat in a boat in Lake Union and watched the largest military helicopter I had ever seen descend upon Seattle crowds with a gigantic flag attached to it. It was a frightening display and strangely prescient of today's growing ideology of US dominance and of an increasingly rigid political climate in which citizens are now expected to be blindly patriotic, unquestioning, and controllable as they cower in front of their television sets waiting for the world's terrorists to be obliterated. The message of Independence Day is one of military might written in the sky with firecrackers, paraphrased in parades with marching soldiers that are either real or symbolic, and sung in the lines of the most sacred of American songs: "rockets red glare" and the "bombs bursting in air." The Fourth of July should be a time to challenge the usual symbols of America. We must reclaim the holiday from either vacant consumerism (hot dog and flag sales) or from rites of fervent flagwaving.

It is my fear that the Fourth of July is increasingly being used to whip up the winds of nationalism; a wind that is fanning flames of conservatism. At the very least, Independence Day is becoming a day to simplify the concept of the US - simplify it in such a way that in obscures the fact that there is much to criticize. Daily civil liberties are being eroded, military initiatives are being launched for geopolitical domination, corporate and government scandals are being glossed over in the media, resources are being appropriated from the poor and redistributed to the rich, and entire ecosystems are being commodified and sold off.

The Fourth of July should be a day of dissent. It should be a day of to declare independence from U.S. neocolonialism, from oppression inside the US and abroad, from militarism and America's growing arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. It should be a day to resist the trite displays of nationalism and to challenge Independence Day to be more than barbecues, fireworks, and a day off work (if you are lucky). While the Bush Administration continues to pursue hegemony in the world and an agenda of radical conservatism, it is the duty of all who recognize the administration's tyranny to challenge it.

Independence Day should be a day of reflection; a time to reflect on the history of the United States. We should remember a history that includes both a revolutionary war to defeat the British Empire and as well as decades of U.S. imperialist expansion and domination. It should be a day to commemorate the history of democracy in this country. A history of democracy that has expanded over time to include more who were previously excluded, but that continues to afford more power to privileged groups.

While there are lots of other opportunities to remember those that have fought in US wars and military actions (traditionally Memorial Day and Veteran's Day), we should declare Independence Day a time to remember those that have fought to improve the US, who have resisted its oppression, or who have contributed to the dream of democracy. We should remember those that have fought and died in the Civil Rights, Peace, and Union movements. We should remember the Native Americans who were slaughtered in the name of manifest destiny and those that persevered and continue to live in a profoundly unequal society.

There have been charges that the left is reactive, negative, and "against things" rather than for positive change. First of all, I think that this is largely untrue. More importantly, there needs to be forces for change that challenge even the most sacred rituals and symbols of mainstream society. There needs to be a space created for those that dissent, for those who are not motivated to cry out in the emotions of patriotism but out of sheer frustration and anger at the multiplying threats to justice, peace, equality, and basic human rights.

Not only is it important to challenge the monolith view that the US is always the freest most democratic place on earth, but it is important to challenge the concepts of patriotism. While the dictionary definition of patriotism is to love, support, and defend one's country, the meaning of the patriotism seems to be increasingly shifting towards an unquestioning defense of the country against any sort of change or critical analysis.

There are some that see the glimmer of hope for humanity beyond the current system of nation-states. From this point of view, patriotism is not only irrelevant, but dangerously complicit in a profoundly undemocratic global system. However, even for those that continue to place their faith into a future global community of democratic nations, love of one's country should not be used as justification for defending the status quo. Defense of one's country, as mentioned in the definition of patriotism, should be transformed to the defense of all people's equality and right to participate in a just and free democracy.

For the progressive community, all holidays can provide the opportunity for social situations in which the activists can support one another in dissent and resistance for social change. While this may or may not mean that there is a rally for every holiday, every holiday provides the opportunity to create alternative celebrations that are inviting to even the newest of the growing community of disenfranchised. As more people wake up to the need to participate in change, people that have never been activists or that may never call themselves activists must have entry into the activist community. This is where alternative holiday celebrations should be created that are inviting to all. A festival or picnic can seem like a safer place for someone to get involved than walking into a meeting that has its established agenda, group dynamics, and momentum or a rally where one marches down the center of a street.

Independence Day is an important day to demand democracy, to challenge simplistic views of the US, and to call on citizens of the growing global social and economic justice movement to stand up for freedom and equality for all. We must build a community of dissenters that are supported in working towards peace and justice and that can challenge the forces of conservatism and the ideology of military domination that pervade US policies today.