Neurotopia

w00t

I know not all my readers are from the US (I know I've got a couple in the UK, some in Canada, and some in New Zealand. What up, guys?) but 'round these digs, the 4th of July is usually celebrated as Independence Day, the day a bunch of people who didn't like their taxes decided to let their government know it in a really violent manner.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not the day the 2nd Continental Congress voted to declare independence. That was July 2. Neither was it the day when the Declaration was read out loud to the city of Philadelphia (that was July 8). Some say it was the day when the Declaration of Independence was signed officially, but it's believed the official signing didn't happen until after all the details were hammered out, on August 2. So WHAT, pray tell, happened on July 4? The Declaration of Independence was adopted. Yeah. That's it. Not voted on. Not signed (though maybe it was), not read to a cheering populace. John Adams always thought that Independence Day should be celebrated on July 2. Others thought August 2. Perhaps people were compromising.

So today is the day. The day of cook-outs, and fireworks, and food, and patriotism. After all it's been through, and all it's going through, and all the crap we have to contend with, and all the issues, in the end, Sci is American, and she's proud of her country. She tries not to get too cynical. After all, everyone in the Roman empire moralized when the empire was 250 years old that everyone had gone soft, and after the Punic wars, what was there to live for, and the whole empire was going downhill. That was around 100 BCE (or a little before or after), and they managed to stick around for while. And in the US, we don't have despotic emperors (anymore), and no lead in the drinking water, and actually give people the vote even if they don't have enough money for a cavalry horse and armor. So I hope we'll stick around a while, at least long enough to fix some of the problems.

Democracy is delicious.