As I said, the weather met the mood.
Which is to say I'm not quite sure how I'm feeling these days about my country.
Mostly, right about now, it's scaring me.
I've always believed that the greatest danger to democracy came from the right, and I've been awaiting the arrival of authoritarianism, of fascism, since my late teens. And now it's at the door. Gulp.
The numbers are scary.
On a recent survey, 26% of Americans scored high on the Right Wing Authoritarian scale. That percentage is twice as high as that found in 2 "peer" countries (English speaking democracies), Canada and Australia, which have 13% high RWA populations. England has 10%.
Many/most Western democracies have been experiencing an uptick in the number of right wingers, a seemingly inevitable response to modernity. We're just experiencing more than most. We're Number One! USA! USA!
Reality deniers abound. A good slug of the population (i.e., half of all Republicans) believe the election was stolen. And I'd venture that there's a pretty strong overlap with the number of folks (20% of the overall population) who state that they have no intention of getting vaccinated. And the FBI says the number one terrorist threat is armed right wingers.
Cry the beloved country!
Did I just say beloved?
Maybe yes, maybe not so yes.
As places go, America has been fine for me and my family. My Irish great-grandparents, and German grandparents, escaped poverty and, for the Germans, the likelihood of war, and built good lives for themselves here.
And God knows, I'd rather be here than living on a farm in a European backwater.
But, of course, I probably wouldn't be.
My mythical childhood as a descendant of my tribe in either Ireland or postwar Germany* wouldn't have been as cushy as my Baby Boomer life. No popsicles. No Tiny Tears doll. No Mouseketeers to sing along with. But all things considered, odds are I would have gone to university and lived a solid middle class life.
The life my ancestors left - poor, isolated, rural - has mostly disappeared. My ancestors who had the strength, courage, and personal wherewithal to leave likely would have used their strength, courage, and personal wherewithal to get ahead if they'd stayed.
While for a goodly percentage of the population, America is a good place to live. No denying that. But there are many countries that enjoy prosperity, and are free and open societies.
It's not just US. (Although I'll give US credit for having been a decent enough example of democracy to have had others emulate us. And we did help rebuild a weary and war-torn world back in the day.)
Anyway, when people say "only in America" could good things happen, I don't think they get around much.
The most recent Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) was Leo Varadkar. Irish mother. Indian father. And, oh yeah, he's gay. That's backward old priest ridden, bead clacking Ireland.
Many countries have had women leaders. Not us. We congratulate ourselves on electing Barack Obama - "Only in America!" - but look at the reaction: a racist white nationalist president and 26% Right Wing Authoritarians unleashed.
I do give us props - and am proud of - America's ability to assimilate immigrants and turn them in one generation into Americans. My Grandpa, Jake Wolf, the off-the-boat baseball fan!
And there's plenty of good to be said for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and for our ability to do some course correction by amending the Constitution. But we are also exceptional for plenty if not so good stuff: gun worship, Know Nothingism that we never quite manage to shake...
Do I love America? I dunno. I love Massachusetts. I love New England. I love NYC and Chicago. I love the varied beauty of our landscape. The diversity. The can-do spirit. The music. The vibrancy. The diversity. Even the messiness.
But right about now, my country scares me.
I vote religiously. I donate to candidates. I volunteer. I hit the streets to demonstrate for good and against wrong-headedness.
Albert Camus famously wrote, "I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice."
Yeah well, me, too.
The weather cleared by early evening on The Fourth, but it was back heavy misting by the time they shot off the fireworks on Boston Common at 10:30. Despite the weather - and no concert: the Pops performed at Tanglewood - there was a reasonably good crowd. A number of them standing on my front steps for a better view.
I joined them.
I love fireworks. I may or may not crazily love my country. But Happy Birthday, anyway. May you grow in wisdom and justice. May this coming year be a good one for you and for the us that makes you what you are. I was going to say cent'anni, but I'm not Italian, and you've already had a lot more than 100 years. How about cent'anni more? Make them good ones. Make them count.
View from my front steps.
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*My German grandparents, my toddler mother in tow, immigrated after WWI from Rumania. Their families had been pioneers who left the Stuttgart area in the late 1700's to settle in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They always lived in German towns. After WWI, their town became part of Rumania, but they were never really Rumanians. After WWII, many of my mother's relatives were repatriated back to Germany. I believe the only ones who stayed in Rumania had married Rumanians.
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