Pride

Americans used to have something called civic pride. Communities would come together to build new libraries, beautiful schools, parks and playgrounds and other civic improvements. Everybody would be uplifted. The common good was a phrase that all citizens understood, even if they called it “home town spirit”.

Those days have faded with the rise of greed, selfishness and a new definition of freedom. Freedom is now defined by many as “free to think only of myself”.

The lamentable Supreme Court decision, ironically named Citizens United, gave Democracy another serious blow as it ushered in a new age of plutocracy. The amount of free speech we get is now equal to the money we have. The wealthiest citizens and corporations (they are citizens now as well) tell us that others have more benefits than we have and promise to take those goodies away. Then the rich encourage us to hate those ‘others’, the ones who don’t look and act like us.

We will hang our flag this Fourth of July, but it will be with sadness. We will hang our flag because my Aunt was given the flag for her service as an army nurse in World War II. We will hang our flag for all those who fought for and believe in true freedom for all, the old fashioned kind of freedom that has civic duty as its partner. We will hang our flag in remembrance of our country’s great achievements, back in the days when we knew how to work together. And we will hang our flag in hope that America gets back its heart.

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