The Thinking ‘Kat: The 4th of July
Today marks the 249th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, when the embryonic United States of America openly rebelled against the rule and whim of monarchs. Nearly two and a half centuries later, what would the original Founding Fathers make of the USA now?
Against a backdrop of patriotic fervour, and chest-thumping cries of national pride, it seems one of the essential truths of the 4th of July has been lost. People are afraid to speak truth to power. The rank and file of the Republican Party are instead more interested in preserving their own power, rather than acting in the best interests of their constituents. To them, the president and the country are indistinguishable from one another; pride in the president – or at least fearful fawning over him – equates in their minds to displays of patriotic duty. Well, perhaps for some. Others might purely be interested in holding on to their careers. Either way, no one wants to speak truth to power. Trump, the man who wants to be venerated as king, holds too much power.
You need only look to his ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ to see how far the USA has strayed from its founding principles. Trump’s bill grants tax breaks to the rich, whilst hitting the poor hardest of all. He’s going after medical care. He’s hitting those reliant on food stamps and benefits hardest of all. You can forget about clean energy, because there’s more money to be made out of driving climate change. Corporations will be better off. There’s also the matter of adding more than three trillion dollars to the national debt, which will drive up interest rates, creating all kinds of problems.
All of this will aid Trump and his cronies, which is what he sees as being true patriotism. In his mind, he is King, and he expects the adulation of the crowds, and the fawning of his court. His cohorts act not out of interests of all Americans, but for the filthy-rich. On the 4th of July, the day that America was supposed to become a nation of the people, for the people, it has never been further way from that principle, and with Trump in charge, it will only move even further from it.
