Within a week or so of every 4th of July the same topic seems to come up: what would Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the other great men that led the American Revolution think about us today? Every person that starts this topic has a negative spin. They think our founders would be disappointed in what we’ve become - embarrassed about our reliance on the Federal Government, and ashamed in the way we fight amongst ourselves and seem to show little to no respect for others that disagree with us. Every year it’s the same… we use some current event to illustrate how our Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves. This year is no different. It’s June 26th and I’ve already heard the first one (actually, I read it on Facebook)… the Confederate flag and same sex marriage debates are sparking a ton of emotion and harsh words… and the first claims of the year that “our Founding Fathers would be ashamed”.
Well, I disagree.
First of all, our Founding Fathers would be thrilled that their experiment of democracy in the United States is still intact and prospering (if you don’t think we’re prospering, visit Syria or Greece or North Korea … heck, visit France or Ireland or Canada for that matter – we’re doing ok). In their wildest dreams, I doubt anyone in 1776 ever imagined that our democracy that started with 13 separate states banding together would still be alive 239 years later.
Secondly, they loved debate. Now, our debates held on social media and what’s become of TV news probably can’t compare to James Madison and John Jay deliberating over some cider … or could it? Regardless of how ridiculous some of the comments on your Facebook newsfeed or how polarizing and manipulating Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly are, we’re still talking … and that’s more than many other countries can claim. I can’t stand most of what I see on Twitter, Facebook, or television; but there are some gems in there that stimulate thought and help me understand this maze called life. As immature as our back-and-forth rhetoric has become, I think our Founding Fathers would be excited at the accessibility all of us have to communicating with each other and the freedom we still have to say whatever we want.
Finally, we the people are still in charge. The basic framework that was put in place in the late 1700s is still our backbone for the way we govern and lead. We have a black president… think about that for a second. I don’t care what you think of his politics or leadership, you have to be proud that we the people elected a black man as our president when less than 50 years ago he couldn’t have used the same public toilet as me in many parts of our country.
We’re not perfect, and we’re experiencing some pain right now because we’re getting used to this “free and accessible information” thing. We’re trying to figure out where the press stops and entertainment begins… we’ll get there, but not tomorrow. We’ll learn how to filter the dummies from the brilliant. In 50 years, the major corporations will not own our politicians … that’ll work itself out too (shortly after the press thing gets fixed).
In short, I think our Founding Fathers would be proud of their efforts and very satisfied that their sacrifice, hard work, and intelligence created the greatest country our world has seen.
