American dream: Freedom for all

Inter Lake editorial

A recent poll on national pride found that Americans are among the most patriotic people on the planet. The survey was conducted in 34 countries, with the U.S.A. coming out on top.

It's hardly a surprise to us, considering how American patriotism is on full, unabashed display every Fourth of July. Americans revel in the national birthday celebration, from sea to shining sea. Picnics and parades are set to the soundtrack of booming fireworks and songs such as "Stars and Stripes Forever."

The Flathead Valley is thick with red, white and blue over the Fourth, with flags flying everywhere from homes and businesses to the sterns of boats cruising local lakes.

Why is Independence Day such a hit? There are other historic moments in the nation's history which surely rival the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Why not celebrate the date our revered Constitution was ratified, for instance?

The answer lies in the theme of the Declaration of Independence - freedom - and the manner in which Americans have embraced it for the last 230 years. Americans aren't really trumpeting blind nationalism on the Fourth of July. They aren't bragging about national hockey or soccer teams. They certainly aren't celebrating the U.S. government, nor any of its current or past leaders.

They are celebrating freedom, with a reminder from the Declaration: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness - that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed …"

Now, if only other countries around the world could do the same. If Iraqis and Afghanis could have their own versions of the Fourth of July - their own measure of "consent of the governed" rather than dictators and theocratic oppression - then certainly their countries and the world would be better off.

While Americans indeed have an ongoing disagreement over U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, there surely is widespread agreement on the need for those countries to someday be left to their own devices. It will indeed be a great time when those populations can stand on their own, hopefully with a far greater degree of liberty than they've ever had before.

Liberty is our own most cherished possession, but it is one of those gifts that is even more valuable when it is passed on.