By ANTHONY KILA
Let us today reflect on one of the most significant anniversaries this July brings, which I believe is worth dedicating some of our valuable time to consider. This annu-al event occurred on July 4th. Yes, you guessed it: American Independence Day. My apologies and sympathies to those whose birthdays, weddings, or other personal or corporate anniversaries fall on the same day; unfortunately, you have little chance now or in the foreseeable future. The celebration of American In-dependence Day dominates headlines every July 4th and is expected to con-tinue doing so for the foreseeable future.
By 9 a.m. (GMT) on that day, leaders from nearly all the countries in the world had sent direct congratulato-ry messages to the USA 鈥 some out of gratitude, others out of admiration, and some merely as a formality or rou-tine. As you will have noticed, almost all news outlets worldwide covered the American Independence Day event, with some reflecting on it, some praising, and others criticising America.
Offshore, another significant aspect to consider is how Americans celebrate the 4th of July: Americans mark their Independence Day through private, com-munal, and religious rituals involving picnics, banquets, and parties, where symbols, images, recipes, and sounds unique to that day are displayed and shared to commemorate a day they cel-ebrate much like Christmas and New Year.
This private dimension is significant and becomes defining when we com-pare the American way to how citizens of other countries celebrate their inde-pendence or similar days. Ten days later, on 14th July in France, like most of the world, Independence or National Day is a state occasion, with the government at all levels acting as host and organiser of events. Individuals are simply guests and spectators of the celebration. Even the simplest Americans understand and cel-ebrate their uniqueness. They celebrate their strength today, their achievements of yesterday, and the potential glory of tomorrow 鈥 a potential made hope, not faith, by the certainty that their person-al dreams can still come true and that those who guide American affairs will not let the American dream die.
Those Americans more inclined to reflect, observe, and rejoice on the 4th of July recognise that the USA is one country on this planet that is founded on and thrives due to the idea that individu-als can create a paradise on earth called 鈥渢he land of opportunity.鈥 They marvel at the notion of being the first nation in the world where, by choice rather than by birth, one can decide to become someone new and be part of something new and great: American. They cherish the idea that all their founding fathers, in principle, and most of their ances-tors, out of necessity and hope, found the courage to reject their old world in which they were born to seek a new world and to become someone new in somewhere new.
Once Americans have chosen to be-come Americans, their primary and on-going mantra has been to limit power. Although their president is the most powerful figure in the world, they en-sure that no president is strong enough to impose his will or methods on the weakest among them. They have decided to make the concept of freedom one of their most cherished ideals. In the name of this decision, they defend practices that others might find bizarre or even dangerous.
Though brought together and bound by the choice to be one people united by freedom and dreams, Americans also decided to accept that they are differ-ent people. To preserve and protect their differences, they chose a true federal system of government, whereby each state is allowed to grow and operate in its own pace and style. From their architecture to businesses, from food and drinks to religion and their laws, each region and even each state varies from one to another. Even within the USA, individuals still have the chance to reinvent themselves; they still get to explore new cultures and become some-thing new by choice.
Offshore, we must not overlook that in the USA, society is stronger than the state. It is people, through associations, businesses, and individuals, who shape government via elections and ongoing interaction, not the other way around. The strength and importance Ameri-cans have chosen to give to their press and legislators, and to defend, arises from their duty and privilege of repre-senting the voice and wishes of the peo-ple, contrasting with the government. Each time a legislator speaks or votes, they do so not for a vague or general America but for a specific constituency that is part of the whole, with its own unique and precise needs and wishes.
The recognised major strength and advantageous position of people and society over government and state in the USA has made the American system vulnerable to potential manipulation and abuse by a more clever and power-ful few who sometimes exploit the many unorganised and uninformed through misinformation, lobbying, and finance. Instead of suppressing, America has opted to allow each group and individ-ual to flourish and to aim to make more people informed and organised, hoping that each year and continually, the coun-try will progress towards a more perfect union.
Offshore, America also has a history of slavery, and modern chronicles reveal jaw-dropping racism, shocking bigotry, and stark inequality. However, Ameri-cans have chosen to focus on continual improvement rather than suppress or destroy what they have built, and that makes them so great. In America today, those who remember and cherish what America was built on are contending with those who want to forge another kind of idea. My bet is on the romantics, but we shall see how it develops.
Join me, @anthonykila, if you can, to continue these conversations.
Anthony Kila is a Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development at the Common-wealth Institute for Advanced and Profession-al Studies