The Complexity of the American Experience
This Independence Day, we can all connect to each other in some way if we are willing to get to know some of the other layers of life experiences that make us, us. And that new found bond can strengthen our communities and ultimately our Nation as a whole. And preserving that vibrant and hopeful and richly complex America is certainly something worth celebrating today.
The Fourth of July is a complicated holiday these days. I always forget what the specific difference is between the words complex and complicated, but I just checked to make sure I’m using the right one when I call Independence Day complicated. Something is complex if it has a lot of parts like a computer system. Something is complicated if a problem is difficult or challenging.
The concept of the July 4th holiday is very simple really. Some people signed a document a couple hundred years ago that declared their intentions to no longer be affiliated with a different country. The war that ensued and the country structure that was later setup can be called complex for sure. I work for a federal agency, and I’ve seen the shelves full of policies and regulations to prove the fact that our government is certainly complex.
But back in 1776, none of those government structures were in place yet. What we commemorate on this day is much more basic, but the complication comes when we think about what happened afterwards. The fact that slavery was allowed to continue for nearly another century and the fact that our country is still struggling to arrive at true equal opportunity for all citizens even today. This holiday is complicated and the United States as a country is complicated because although we know and can be grateful for the concept of everybody being equal under the law, statistics sadly show we haven’t achieved that aspiration yet either.
But I read a thought that made me feel hopeful this morning, which has been used in many contexts from a David Eggers novel to the BBC’s The Office. “I’d rather be at the bottom of a ladder I want to climb than at the top of one I don’t.” That’s where I see America right now—at the bottom of the right ladder. The U.S. is dealing with an identity crisis. We have some tough reckoning to get through. It’s rough being at the bottom of an extremely tall ladder, but I still hold some confidence that after we wade through these tumultuous times and face our past to set a new vision for our future, we can start up the ladder to a better Union.
And ultimately what gives me the greatest hope for the future of America comes from seeing how much good already does happen all around us in our local communities. People in the United States can be amazingly generous in so many ways: volunteering, serving, giving time and money, welcoming refugees into their homes, being willing to pay taxes knowing that billions are going to assisting countries that are struggling, and so much more.
This morning, I attended a quaint community parade complete with a local man as the parade marshal, a few groups with dressed up dogs, and a local dance group or two. The whole parade lasted maybe a half hour. But think about all the preparation that went into that.
Someone had to setup the registration system. Someone had to coordinate with the police to close the roads along the parade route. Someone had to do some fundraising. The whole town joined in the marketing of the event in putting up signs in their local grocery store, restaurants, and motels. And when the event time came, it was well attended, full of largely local citizens cheering on their neighbors.
That’s the model I think we could take to celebrate this complicated holiday. There are certainly a lot of reasons to feel disappointed in America today, but just like the parade, we can cheer on our local communities, we can help support our neighbors and our local institutions. We can volunteer our time to causes that will help make our communities stronger, more unified, better connected, and more vibrant, and by subsequent effect, our entire Nation is made that much stronger too. There may be a float or two representing a few organizations that we are less thrilled about in our national parade, but we can all still cheer the fact that they have space to represent their own ideals and aspirations, and in so doing, the organizations that we care deeply about, can also be protected and free to share too.
And then after the parade is over, I hope we can all join for a pancake breakfast like I was so fortunate to support today. Breaking bread—or digging into fresh pancakes—is how humans have always settled differences and built relationships. We need to remember that all of us are more complex than just our political affiliation. We can all connect to each other in some way if we are willing to get to know some of the other layers of life experiences that make us, us. And preserving that vibrant and hopeful and richly complex America is certainly something worth celebrating today.