It feels really hard to celebrate my country right now.

[owop@mastodon.world]

@RickiTarr
Paths that you walk may wander, roads cross and diverge. What goals and tasks you are given will change. Open your heart to love and let it guide you.

*When we sail into the harbor with sabers waving and the cannon thundering. Singing the Pirate songs to begin festivities the now does not exist only the adventure and potential of a new country long ago rings loud and clear. When we set anchor and row ashore to be surrounded by kids the adventure of the then becomes now.

[kanamauna@sauropods.win]

@RickiTarr

A regime is not the same as a country. I for one refuse to cede this country to a bunch of crypto-Confederates. They want us to give up, to take anything we can rally around.

The regime is like that abusive relative that acts like you’re not really part of the family when it is the other way around. They are the outlier and you are surrounded by amazing family members.

[sevardin@tech.lgbt]

@RickiTarr Democracy is a flawed political system, just the best we’ve come up with so far. Sadly, as we’ve seen since Hair Führer was installed, it can be suborned **really easily** by evil. Having lived through Ronny Raygun, Bush the Lesser, Dumbya, et al., it does seem like things are progressively more repressive with each Republican administration… but there is still hope for change!

Self-care is important. When the world is going to hell in a hand basket, it’s okay (good, even) to step off the bicycle, click your heels three times, and check out for a while.

[stevensaus@faithcollapsing.com]

@RickiTarr

It can be both better than it was while still being far from how good it could be for most people.

[meadow@lgbtqia.space]

@RickiTarr
I'm not celebrating for similar reasons. Why celebrate a country which wants so many people I care about to die?

I did put up a new flag, but that's just because I didn't have the money when the old one wore out and it's a great way to keep Jehovah's Witnesses away.

But no, I'm definitely not happy or excited. In the last decade, American citizens have had so many rights stolen from them. The damage won't be corrected until long after I am dead.

Worked my whole life for a better future, and that's not remotely what any of us got.

[simon_brooke@mastodon.scot]

@RickiTarr if it's any comfort, I have been ashamed to be British for a long time, and am determined I shall never travel again using a #UK passport. Which probably means I will never travel again...

Both of our soi disante 'democratic' countries are very much captured by power elites. Your 'Democrat' party is funded by precisely the same #Oligarch #Kleptocrat class as your 'Republican' party; neither of them are at all interested in the wellbeing of ordinary people.

/Continued

[simon_brooke@mastodon.scot]

@RickiTarr and guess what? Our main parties here, #UKLabour and the #Tories, are funded by the exact same class and very often the exact same individuals. The only difference for Scotland is that our #SNP is not yet funded by the #Kleptocrat class — but is nevertheless sucking up to them in the hopes that it will soon be.

When the rich can buy politicians, #democracy is broken, and voting is more or less useless.

#Corruption
#UKPol
#ScotPol

[celestiallavendar@icedoatmilk.coffee]

@RickiTarr@beige.party I think that's totally valid, and Ive been feeling a lot of the same. For my part I'm trying to do my best to extend the gratitude and support I have to the people still fighting the good fight. Feel like they need it now more than ever.

[happycrow13@mastodon.social]

@RickiTarr You're much more generous than I am. Fuck this place and fuck the celebrations. The US was built on blood. We continue to murder and destroy everything that isn't "right". I ain't celebrating shit
I know folks are fighting for the better. I am too, we have to keep fighting. I'm tired and refuse to waste my energy celebrating terror and genocide

And I really hate fireworks. Any loud noise like that set my nerves on edge. (Not just the 4th any celebration with booms)

[simonzerafa@infosec.exchange]

@meadow @RickiTarr

I do wonder how many Americans fully understand how deeply their government (and the vast majority of its military) is mistrusted and unreliable it appears to be?

There has been more than one instance of MAGA loving tourists being told these realities and being shocked at their poor receptiion.

🥺‍️

[angelteeth@kolektiva.social]

@RickiTarr I empathize to a certain extent. I haven't been the slightest bit interested in celebrating this country for decades now, but I remember when I thought there was a kernel of good in the idea of "country," in general, the "US" specifically.

Maybe a different kind of celebration is called for? Do you have folks close to you who feel the way you do? There can be an exquisite kind of fierce joy in relinquishing those hopes you once had – it can actually be cathartic, especially if you have others to share it with. At the same time, reading & listening further into the stories of those who have never had the experience of America being a "land of the free," those for whom the very concept of "America" is a genocidal apocalypse, instead of being morbid and depressing, can often heighten that joy of the shifting paradigm. A kind of big, exhaled "fuck this forever!"

Idk, your mileage may vary, of course, but sometimes the best way to struggle through that kind of sadness of a loss of something you once had faith in, is to lean into the feeling and let go. I hope you find some solace, though, no matter how it turns out for you.

[coleenwalter@mastodon.social]

@RickiTarr Lately I’ve been making a point to visit the various art museums in my area. I find solace looking at the art and artifacts created hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Aside from learning something new, I leave happier. No matter what is going on, people were, and still are, creating and making extraordinary things. While that’s not a celebration of the country’s 250 th, it’s what gives me hope.

[bouriquet@mastodon.social]

@Sevardin You’re an optimist.
Some people decided to get out of Germany in 1939 when they could.
That regime came to an end after the allies and the USSR invaded on both sides and liberated a nation.
So who will invade the US and come to our rescue?

[alexadeswift@lgbtqia.space]

@meadow

I fear that both the US and UK will soon disintegrate into their constituent countries/states.

@RickiTarr

[krajcitom@universeodon.com]

@RickiTarr

Happy 4th of July!

[barbramon1@mas.to]

@RickiTarr It's a demoralizing time for those of us who care about the promise of the founding of the US. It was a very imperfect country from the start, but the lofty words of the Declaration of Independence have inspired millions of us to do better. There have been many times in history where we have betrayed our founding principles. We are living through one of those times.
As an older person have seen a lot of shit go down. I still have hope, and I will continue to take action to validate that hope. Without hope we are lost.
Will spend a quiet 4th with friends and neighbors.
Despite the ugly and deeply disappointing present, I can still celebrate the spirit of the US, of the US I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to see.

[barbramon1@mas.to]

@tanyakaroli @RickiTarr
Thank you, Danish friend.

[barbramon1@mas.to]

@hopeward @RickiTarr Well said, David.We will survive this cancer.

[davidtheeviloverlord@mastodon.social]

@RickiTarr

*sends hugs, if that's okay*

[thearrivingdeparture@mastodon.social]

@simon_brooke And who else but the rich can buy politicians?