I was talking to one of my friends and he mentioned staying home on July 4, citing how there are a lot of really ugly things going on in the US.
After thinking about this myself, I’m starting to feel the same way. Instead of being proud of the country, I’m feeling like I’m just another wallet that companies and the government are trying to suck all the money out of.
The cost of living is going up, the housing market is a nightmare, I don’t feel very confident in our government at all, the job market is a nightmare…
I think I’ll be staying home this year too… anyone else?
This, but OP, I think, pointed to the issue maybe without realizing it:
If you feel you are just a.cog in a capitalist machine and not a citizen of a country, why would you celebrate?
It feels like Fox news and all the wedge issues have done their work and destroyed our sense of collective citizenship. Now the GOP is doing their corporate owners’ bidding.
I do feel like a cog. I don’t feel like a valued citizen – I just feel like some schmuck the administration and/or multinational corporations can siphon money from. The attitude of the USA doesn’t feel like “Let’s work together to make a great place!” Lately, it feels more to me like “Fuck everyone else, I want to get paid!”
It feels almost abusive.
One of the craziest things to me is it’s 100% demonstrable the USA spends some of the most money per person on health care and does not get anywhere close to the top outcomes in health care, but if you ask people on the street, many of them will say USA is #1 in healthcare.
That’s the point where patriotism turns the corner into delusion.