Hi friends! Get ready for some star-spangled banter.
“The happiness of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind; she is destined to become the safe and venerable asylum of virtue, of honesty, of tolerance, and quality and of peaceful liberty.” - Marquis de Lafayette
DESTINY’S CHILD
America the experiment was always an aspiration and a work in progress. Much like man is fallen, America was never meant to be perfect, but we keep working towards and getting closer to perfection. America is a sinner and at its best can be a saint. We can make horrible and painful mistakes yet still be the hope for freedom on Earth. It’s messy and beautiful and American.
SECRET CRUSH
I rather like America. I hate having to couch that statement with an apology or a show of my knowledge of the long list of bad things that ever happened by the U.S. Government or any bad person that was ever an American citizen. God Bless America and I’m sorry that U.S. troops ever killed a civilian in battle. Happy Independence Day and I’m sorry that slavery is a stain on this Country’s history and contradiction to the very document that purported to establish unalienable and natural rights. I pledge allegiance to the flag and I’m sorry that not all people identify as free because of injustices done to entire groups imbedded in laws meant to discriminate against their race, sex, religious belief, and any number of other characteristics they can’t control.
Yea, I get it, not all people were equal citizens at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the signing of the Constitution, or ratification of numerous constitutional amendments. As a woman, a catholic, and of Irish ancestry I know if I got in a time machine I’d have a pretty rough go at it anytime before 1900 and would have hated my position in society before 1960. And I would still have been better off compared to other minority groups. History is shocking like that. But, I was lucky enough to be born in the 80s and while a lot has changed, and much more needs to change to correct injustices and prejudices in our society, I sure as hell wouldn’t have preferred to be born in any other country if given the chance to pick. Dual citizenship would be cool, but you get my point.
I roll my eyes at Americans that bash their country, pick some other country they think would be a better fit for their secular morals, and know absolutely nothing about the equally problematic history of injustices, war crimes, discriminatory laws, mistreatment of minority groups, etc they also have. Find me any civilization in the history of forever that if held to today’s standards would pass our moral and ethical test. I’ll wait. All that contrarian smack reeks of ignorance… Ironically enough, it reeks specifically of an American-centric viewpoint, known well throughout the rest of the world as a uniquely American attribute.
OUR PRESENT BIAS
The ahistorical lens by which most of our news is delivered and how we even frame our political debates is a big problem. We are selectively picking incidents that reinforce this narrative that America is bad or that Americans are monsters. Maybe we aren’t picking the incidents but we are certainly chirping in with our opinions every time. It’s unhealthy and a complete distortion of reality. You see and hear one thing on the news, but if you open up your front door do you see the same story playing out in the streets of your neighborhood? Probably not. The problem I have with all this intellectually bankrupt tomfoolery is with framing current events with absolute relativity. It’s like we’re all operating on a Whose Line Is It Anyway matrix.
The rules are made up and the points don't matter.
It also feels like Lonely Island lyrics
A milk dud, sitting in the acid rain
A house cat addicted to the cocaine
No teeth, unlimited floss
These are just a few of our incredible thoughts
I am no apologist for bad behavior or bad men or just bad in general. But I’m a realist that knows that in all of human history and of all the places I could be right now, I’m best off in America. Not because I’m a white girl and I have white privilege. But because I’m better off in America than I am in the UK, Canada, Japan, Russia, China, Italy, South Africa, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Belgium, Sudan, or Ghana. You think America is bad, take a look at Australia’s policy on immigration. You think America is bad, do a quick google search on what it’s like to be a woman in Syria. You think America is bad, take a look at France’s abortion laws. You think America is bad, have you seen the list of genocides committed in the twentieth century alone by governments against their own people? You think America is bad, they don’t even celebrate Pride in Brunei.
RULING CLASS STATS
Women in Half the World Still Denied Land, Property Rights Despite Laws, The World Bank
In Liberal Europe, Abortion Laws Come With Their Own Restrictions, The Atlantic
Best Country for Female Entrepreneurs, Businesswire
OUTRAGE MEDIA
I’m too easily coaxed into taking the bait. The political du jour of the day is served up hot in my newsfeed. But this is as good a time as any to remind myself that politics isn’t a binary choice. I won’t be forced into an ugly group-think box anymore. That’s how they gaslight freethinking people on any “side” of an issue. Let them call you the worst names for not agreeing with them 100% on something, seriously, why not? Everything can’t be the watershed moment they keep promising it is. The trouble with waxing on about the end of the world is that you eventually need to deliver. We survived a global pandemic, the U.S. Government confirmed the existence of unidentifiable flying objects that operate under conditions that don’t comport with our understanding of physics, and scientific and technological breakthroughs are happening every day. There are BIG things happening right now that actually deserve air time. But we’re too busy arguing over how many genders there are and whether Bill Gates is the anti-Christ. I’m actually starting to believe we may be living in a simulation.
We only have so many days on this planet, do you really want to waste it talking about how Dr. Suess got canceled? How someone accidentally misgendered someone? Eventually, no one will remember us. It’s a harsh truth, but take this to the bank: No one will remember you for your soft activism on social media, except to make fun of you in the here and now.
THE STATUS QUO VS THE SYSTEM
I hold what might seem like contradictory beliefs. On the one hand, I do not like the status quo. I am not particularly happy with how working mothers are treated full stop. I’ll save that rant for another day. Prior to becoming a mother, I was not particularly happy with the soft bigotry I faced as a woman in the workforce. But it’s a helluva lot better than it was as a working woman in the 1990s, and the 1980s, and then the 1970s. This brings me to my 2nd strongly held belief that I do trust the system. The bulky, painfully slow, and rage inducing system actually does work. People make up the system and people need time to change, to adapt, to acclimate. They also need time to troubleshoot and see what ideas deserve to be adopted and what ideas deserve to be sent to the dump. In a free society, you can’t just declare a thing and then thought police anyone that doesn’t adhere to your edict immediately. Good ideas always win in the court of public opinion. We’ll never achieve perfection, but we are certainly trending in that direction–whether the news will admit it or not.
A LAND OF FOREIGNERS
Do you know what a foreign accent is? It’s a sign of bravery. This Fourth of July while you celebrate that at one point a group of people, facing unlikely odds, said, “No, there’s a better way.” Paraphrased. We should also celebrate the bravery of our family members that left their home countries, some by choice, some by necessity, some by force, that ultimately gave us a chance at a better way. The American way.
SARAH’S MEDIA DIET
To Listen:
Honestly with Bari Weiss - When a Free Society Becomes a Police State (Just binge the entire 1st season-to-date)
Revolutions Podcast - 2.6a- Supplemental The Declaration of Independence
To Watch:
Amazon Prime - Coming 2 America
Hillsdale College’s Free Course - Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution
Disney+ - Luca Silenzio, Bruno!
To Read:
James Madison - Vices of the Political System of the United States
The battle cry of the politically homeless by Bridget Phetasy
Sister Shoutout
Caroline Smith is an icon. She is my design, fashion, and etiquette muse. An amateur internet sleuth and social media detective extraordinaire. But most importantly, she’s a friend that I know I can always count on to be there for me and that I’ve never felt judged by. And I haven’t even talked about her badass day job––those are just her hobbies! She’s a new mom to a beautiful baby girl whom she managed to hand sew multiple-day gowns for. She’s superwoman, is super funny, and is someone I strive to be more like every day.
LYLAS,
- Sarah
The Slip will return in 2 weeks!