Thursday, July 5, 2012

on another note, i've been thinking about patriotism, the 4th of july and how we perform celebration around that all. all of the blogs i read had a little thing recognizing the day, mostly just old timey photos, or cute little red/white/blue things....but what would it mean for us to actually go deeper and challenge ourselves to do more than indulge in the celebratory aspect of this holiday. like, yeah it's fucking fun to dress up and light off fireworks, but what does it MEAN for us to get decked out in flag print everything? are we isolating people who live in this country but don't have access to citizenship? are we voicing support for systems that oppress and deceive us? are we creating an atmosphere that stifles dissent? are we really getting whipped up into a patriotic fervor, and where is the line between irony and reality?

i want to hang out and barbeque and set off fireworks and maybe even go swimming. i would LOVE to do that on any day that isn't the 4th of july. and i don't wanna express patriotism, ironically or otherwise. i enjoy vast amounts of privilege as a white, upper middle class american citizen. i feel irresponsible when i drop into that privilege and celebrate it at the expense of others. it also makes me feel sad and lonely to be surrounded by people freaking the fuck out on america.

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