So, humans have a tendency to remember the better parts of a situation and forget the worse. To me this seems good because all we have are our memories of it, for the most part--I admit that this is probably becoming less and less true--and I would certainly rather look back on a rose-tinted life in my old age than not; however, the problem arises when the realities of the present clash with idealistic representations of the past to create a wistful nostalgia that yearns for "the old days" or "simpler times." I think Americans are as prone to that nostalgia as everyone else and no holiday represents it moreso than the good ol' Fourth of July.

The United States was founded on idealism. I don't think that it was any more purely implemented then than now. Politicians were still politicians, and many historians have worked to peel back the godlike image that Americans have constructed around their founding fathers. Yet our national folklore relies on the morality of the Revolutionary War, or else why does the country exist at all? Thus all men involved are converted to saints because perhaps we are afraid we would have nothing left, otherwise.

Today is the day when we celebrate all of that. People gather up their families and have cookouts and watch fireworks and think about patriotism and freedom and all those wonderful things. And that is not a facetious statement: I truly believe that patriotism and freedom are wonderful things, or at least they can be. I wear red, white, and blue today not because I think America is the best country there is or that it can't make mistakes, but because I have hope that we can achieve change and a better future. To do that, however, we cannot cling blindly to the ideals of the past. We have to let go of some of that nostalgia and face the world with a fresh perspective.

Listen to me, speaking in nothing but generalities. I sound like a politician.

But honestly, I feel like so much of American folklore yearns for the benefits of yesteryear, when everyone knew everyone and there weren't the gritty, agonizing issues that we have today. To a certain extent, people just have to get over it. Maybe I'll never really know my next-door neighbors, but I can do something to help the environment, to try and engage the problems of today.