I enjoy a community celebration with professional fireworks at a fairgrounds. But this annual celebration in the neighborhoods — certainly, in Hazel Dell — of the sonic brutality of a war zone, carried out willy-nilly by the astoundingly selfish, is not an exercise of patriotism. An exercise of patriotism would be actual military service, especially in combat; would be running for office; would be volunteering to make the country a better place by doing a good deed for a veteran, or volunteering to help homeless veterans, or registering people to vote. It would be helping out at a food bank, or tutoring children who need help, or having a reading in the great works of American history. Why not do those things on July 4? Maybe try reading words from Jefferson or Lincoln to your family.
Creating ugly flashbacks for vets with PTSD is not patriotic, however. Terrifying small children, pets and people prone to anxiety for hours on end is not patriotic. Robbing the elderly of sleep is not patriotic. Getting drunk, eating carbonized meat, and — by example — teaching small children that explosives are not dangerous is not patriotic. Associating home fireworks with certain political points of view is not only not patriotism — it’s childish and uninformed.
