I’ve been thinking about the July 4th holiday for weeks leading up to today. We are not yet back to normal after COVID-19, but we are making progress. I am also glad we are almost six months removed from the painful events of January 6. Hopefully, time and true patriotism will heal this wound.
It is worth remembering that it was no small feat for our Founding Fathers, a group of individuals with many different viewpoints, to agree to, sign, and submit the Declaration of Independence. Most people in the room at that time had greatly benefited from the current system. In fact, many ended up losing significant wealth and, in some cases, their lives because they signed that document. It was one of those rare moments in history where a group of individuals came together and put the common greater good above their own self-interest. Of course, there were politics involved. There always is. Somehow, they overcame it.
It feels like our country goes through different periods where we feel unified, or it feels like we are breaking apart. We almost broke apart 160 years ago. Anyone who has traveled this country knows how diverse and varied our topography, climate, and political viewpoints can be. Quite frankly, it’s understandable that people who grew up and live in different environments could feel, think, and act differently. I’m sure if you come from a more rural background, you might view things differently than someone who spent their whole life inhabiting an urban landscape. If you grew up in a wealthy suburb, you might see the world differently than somebody who grew up in a more challenging socio-economic situation. If you’re an immigrant new to English-speaking culture, you might think differently than someone whose family has been here for generations. If you are a person of faith, you might feel differently about things than someone who is an atheist or agnostic. If you come from a big family, you might even think differently than someone who is an only child. Our differences are many, real, and to be expected. When effectively managed, they become our strengths and broaden our perspectives. When improperly navigated, they appeal to our darker natures and can become our curse.
I sometimes wish we had another holiday called Interdependence Day. While we did, as an emerging nation, separate from Great Britain. We also agreed to work together as thirteen disparate colonies. We set aside numerous regional and philosophical differences to achieve a common objective. Nothing great in this country has ever happened because of the work of one homogeneous group of like-minded people. Usually, they only end up creating problems for everyone else. It is our heterogeneity that is our strength. We must never forget that.
We’ve survived our own Civil War. We’ve been able to build the strongest economy the world has ever seen. We’ve won two world wars and the Cold War. We’ve overcome multiple recessions and even the Great Depression. We’ve saved the world from pandemics and kept the post-WWII world relatively safe and stable (given historical comparisons). Our scientific and medical breakthroughs in the past 25 years alone have been astonishing. No single group of people accomplished any of these achievements. It involved people of all skin colors, faiths, and sexes, and many immigrants rallying behind a common need. When necessary, we’ve come together as one nation to do what’s required for the greater good. Let’s make it necessary again without waiting for a crisis to prompt action. If anything, COVID should have been a wake-up call.
Happy Independence (and Interdependence) Day! Look around you. You are surrounded by hard-working, good people who all love this country as much as you do. They may look different and think differently about certain things than you, which should be okay in a free country. You might even learn something from them. To borrow a phrase from Abraham Lincoln, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” but a house with a solid foundation and structure can survive just about anything!