July 2002

Happy Birthday to You, My Red White and Blue
By Anonymous

On July 4, 1776, a group of men decided to declare war against the strongest Empire in the world at the time.  They signed a declaration of war against the King, what we know as the Declaration of Independence.  Just two years before, the words “Independence” had not been uttered by a soul at the Continental Congress.  The words that today mean freedom, in those days meant treason – the kind they hang you for.

Today, we fight for Independence again.  A new war for freedom engulfs the country – freedom from terror.  In this environment, in this month, we should remember the adversity this country has overcome.  In just 1786, a group of farmers in Massachusetts revolted in the Shay’s Rebellion, attempting to destroy courthouses to prevent the foreclosing of their farms due to a tax increase.  George Washington suppressed the revolt quickly.  As President, he called forth the militia to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.  Thomas Jefferson simply bought Louisiana from France, with no apparent constitutional legitimacy the same year that John Marshall, Jefferson’s bitter political foe, up and decided the courts had the power to overturn the will of Congress.  In 1814, our powerful enemies, the British, sacked the White House, sending President James Madison fleeing Washington.  And let’s not forget the Civil War, two World Wars, seven presidents to die in office – including two assassinations, two presidential impeachments, Watergate, and the Challenger explosion.  All of this, of course, took place before the first presidential election litigation was ever filed in a Florida state court.

These days, people of all generations need to remember this adversity.  Sure, it’s easy to remember the successes – D-Day, Desert Storm, or the words, “Houston, Tranquility Base here.  The Eagle has landed.”  Those kinds of glories need to be considered only with the failure, so that one realizes that the true honor is not in unstoppable victory, rather in getting up following an unstoppable defeat.  A defeat like nine-one-one.

For our generation in particular, one who does not know the foxhole; one that knows not the fallout shelter, we need to look to our past to more understand our present.  We don’t remember the Berlin Wall being built, but we saw it come down.  We don’t fully understand what that meant, of course, but to hear of a similar wall being built in Israel ought to give us pause.  We weren’t there to watch in silence as the world stood still during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but we can stand and witness two nuclear powers stare each other down in Kashmir.  We didn’t hear Roosevelt announce D-Day, but we saw Bush proclaim Enduring Freedom.

It is easy to step back from it all and forget that each one of the triumphs and failures took place because of individuals – living, breathing, mortal humans that stepped into extraordinary circumstances and came out ontop.  Because of this, we can enjoy the fortune that we have.  This time 60 years ago, we would have been placed in North Africa to fight the NAZIs.  This time 30 years ago, we would have been placed in South Vietnam.  Today, young men and women no more older nor wiser than any of us are using the tools of the day to investigate and assault the new enemy.  I guess for our generation, it is easy to forget all this is happening, and all this has happened throughout our history.

The purpose of this article is not to make anyone feel guilty or self-conscious of the fortune, under which we rise and sleep.  Rather, simply to reflect this month, the month of our birth, on the trials of our country and our ability to respond to them.  So, while you enjoy your summer freedom from school, enjoy your daily freedom from tyranny, from slavery, from fear; and raise a glass to our boys and girls abroad – and at home – so that we might enjoy this freedom at least one more day.

Gen X'ers . . . You are welcome to email me articles that would be of interest to fellow X'ers!

James Chenoweth
GenXnowEditor