Not-so-happy Birthday
Today is Independence Day. It is the day my adopted country declared its independence from Britain's tyranny. The prime reason for it was economic, as always. Thanks to the money spent on the French and Indian War, Parliament imposed taxes upon the colonies without the colonies having any say in the matter. Things escalated, especially in troublesome Boston, and the end was the birth of a nation.
When I was a little girl, we celebrated the Bicentennial, in 1976. I don't remember much, except a patriotic coloring book I got that year, with scenes of American history to color. I suppose the simple lines describing the pictures prompted me to find out more, because by the time I studied U.S. history in fifth grade, I already knew most of what was in the textbook. Back then I was proud of my country, and thought it would last forever as a symbol of freedom.
Now, I think its heyday has gone. Every night we listen to the news and hear and see things that make me cringe. Whenever someone asks about my English, I prefer to say I grew up in Boston, rather than say I am an American. I remember grade B movies of banana republics, where the tyrant was always a buffoon that was so obviously blind to his failings, and where his sycophants were simply out to line their pockets, that the end was an inevitable downfall. That is what my adopted and beloved country has become, a banana republic.
I'm not saying that Spain is perfect. Far from it. The ruling party here is so riddled with corruption, that it is a wonder they haven't all been shipped to prison. Rather, they remain in office, refusing to resign and covering their tracks. This is a holdover from the Franco years, when it was absolutely common for him and his ministers to operate so that whatever laws they passed would benefit themselves and their families, and whatever companies they owned. It is despicable. Yet, they haven't reached the bottom level of a grade B movie buffoon.
America has been divided by this buffoon. There have always been undercurrents of hatred; racial, class, and others. But they were held in check because they were frowned upon officially in the last forty or fifty years. Any elected official that used his office to publicly issue hatred, whether in so many words, or in deeds and nuances of speech, was immediately reprimanded. Now, it has become commonplace. Human nature takes many years to make perfect, but just a few weeks to let the worst shine through. In these few months, those who felt they could not speak their mind before, have become emboldened and let loose a hatred not seen in at least two generations. And all because the buffoon has made it his trademark. And if the person in the highest office in the land can do it without any problem, who is to say that the lowest in the land cannot do so?
Yet there remain many Americans who embody the spirit of what was once a new country certain it was doing the correct thing toward its citizens. There are people who will help those they see in need, who will come together and make sure the right thing is done. There are those who know that a smile and a kind word are the best greetings and assuages to frightened people. I remember many in my youth and childhood who would go out of their way to help a stranger who didn't know where to turn to. These people are the ones that will make sure the country recuperates from a grade B movie and becomes a wise country. Economic interests are important, but, in the end, it's the people who must come first. King George missed out on that over two hundred years ago. The buffoon sitting in Washington has no idea of that. America should show the world that there are people who haven't forgotten that.
Happy birthday, America. May the coming year see some wisdom appear.
When I was a little girl, we celebrated the Bicentennial, in 1976. I don't remember much, except a patriotic coloring book I got that year, with scenes of American history to color. I suppose the simple lines describing the pictures prompted me to find out more, because by the time I studied U.S. history in fifth grade, I already knew most of what was in the textbook. Back then I was proud of my country, and thought it would last forever as a symbol of freedom.
Now, I think its heyday has gone. Every night we listen to the news and hear and see things that make me cringe. Whenever someone asks about my English, I prefer to say I grew up in Boston, rather than say I am an American. I remember grade B movies of banana republics, where the tyrant was always a buffoon that was so obviously blind to his failings, and where his sycophants were simply out to line their pockets, that the end was an inevitable downfall. That is what my adopted and beloved country has become, a banana republic.
I'm not saying that Spain is perfect. Far from it. The ruling party here is so riddled with corruption, that it is a wonder they haven't all been shipped to prison. Rather, they remain in office, refusing to resign and covering their tracks. This is a holdover from the Franco years, when it was absolutely common for him and his ministers to operate so that whatever laws they passed would benefit themselves and their families, and whatever companies they owned. It is despicable. Yet, they haven't reached the bottom level of a grade B movie buffoon.
America has been divided by this buffoon. There have always been undercurrents of hatred; racial, class, and others. But they were held in check because they were frowned upon officially in the last forty or fifty years. Any elected official that used his office to publicly issue hatred, whether in so many words, or in deeds and nuances of speech, was immediately reprimanded. Now, it has become commonplace. Human nature takes many years to make perfect, but just a few weeks to let the worst shine through. In these few months, those who felt they could not speak their mind before, have become emboldened and let loose a hatred not seen in at least two generations. And all because the buffoon has made it his trademark. And if the person in the highest office in the land can do it without any problem, who is to say that the lowest in the land cannot do so?
Yet there remain many Americans who embody the spirit of what was once a new country certain it was doing the correct thing toward its citizens. There are people who will help those they see in need, who will come together and make sure the right thing is done. There are those who know that a smile and a kind word are the best greetings and assuages to frightened people. I remember many in my youth and childhood who would go out of their way to help a stranger who didn't know where to turn to. These people are the ones that will make sure the country recuperates from a grade B movie and becomes a wise country. Economic interests are important, but, in the end, it's the people who must come first. King George missed out on that over two hundred years ago. The buffoon sitting in Washington has no idea of that. America should show the world that there are people who haven't forgotten that.
Happy birthday, America. May the coming year see some wisdom appear.
Sadly, very well sad. My emotions are mixed between being unable to celebrate what America has become to what it could have been.
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