4th of July

I would like to wish all the American visitors I have a very Happy 4th of July. The history books we used at school undoubtedly differed enormously from yours in terms of how the events leading to Independence are recorded. Ultimately I look at the history of our nation with a slight bewilderment. How did such a small nation as ours manage to achieve the large Empire and colonies that we once had? I’m pretty damn sure it wasn’t through sweet talking, persuasion or bringing gifts. I don’t doubt that there was tyranny and injustice throughout the lands that we ruled. Man’s inhumanity to man always seems to surface too readily. I was watching a programme last night about the second world war, and it detailed some of the atrocities that took place. Such was the willingness of certain Baltic countries to align themselves with the German invaders, that some of them murdered their Jewish populations before the Nazis even arrived! But returning to the subject of American Independence, to me the disintegration of the British Empire was always going to be inevitable. How could any country hope to control so many different regions of the world, and act so aggressively towards them, without expecting some kind of revolution to take place? As is currently being demonstrated in various arenas of conflict, it is hard, even in this modern day, to maintain control over regions that contain militant dissidents. The Americans fought for their Independence and won, and deservedly so in my opinion. What you have shown us is how to celebrate an occasion. I cannot think of any event that we celebrate with even 20% of the effort you put into the 4th of July. St Georges’s Day (our national Saint) over here passes with a whimper. None of the unreserved celebrations that accompany St Patrick’s Day, for us staid English. We hope constantly for a national triumph to unite the nation, and this hope always seems to be pinned on the achievements of our national football team. They never fail to disappoint, so at least we achieve consistency, if not the success we need to spark something. There is talk of creating a day for us to celebrate. Trafalgar Day is being proposed in some areas – to celebrate our defeat of the French in 1815. Whatever gets decided, we need something as a nation to pull us together in a similar fashion as today does for Americans. I hope every American enjoys the celebrations, as the effort and belief put into them shames the pathetic attempts we have over here to raise national pride.