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| I'm ambivalent about the 4th of July. On the one hand, what's not to like about self-determination and throwing off the shackles of tyranny? But when the observance is drained of revolutionary significance and becomes instead a jingoistic celebration of pseudopatriotic we're-number-one-ism I begin to feel the icy fingers of despair creeping up the back of my neck. Music is freedom and every Sunday 3 or 4 of us gather to play in a practice space which happens to afford a good view of the local fireworks extravaganza so we stepped outside for a break and took in the display of ballistic prowess. Larger concussions set off car alarms and I couldn't stop thinking about what less benign American explosions mean to innocents in Afghanistan and Iraq. Guantanamo, rendition, assassination, torture, wiretaps, PATRIOT ACT... It made me wonder what people were celebrating. Were they worshipping the corpse of democratic ideals or just giving tacit approval to fascism at home and imperial wars abroad? After the show I breakdanced on the sidewalk (I'm really not bad). People largely ignored it. This wasn't in the script, they hadn't received a txt msg. They passed by, consciously oblivious. That pretty much answered my question. |