InDependence Days

Monday is July 4^th, the day American’s celebrate their independence from England. By my count, this makes 235 years of nationhood. So, good on us.

Seeing as we are living through an age in which national sovereignty and identity are in flux, particularly in the Gulf and/or Middle East, it seems important to discuss the concept of capital “I” Independence Day celebrations.

After all, some countries have a messy relationship with independence.

Afghanistan’s I-Day, for example, is on August 19^th. It commemorates their release from UK control in 1919. Some displaced Afghan communities also call August 19^th Afghan Refugee Day, to mark their expatriate status. I’m not certain of the history here, but it seems oddly appropriate to have the two events coincide; independence can mean both a release from foreign control and an undesirable detachment from one’s society.

Afghanistan has been experiencing foreign invasion of one kind or another since the late 1970’s, right up to current U.S occupation. Independence Day parties may well be somber events.

Here’s my question: does an Independence Day celebration occur in order to rejoice at an important but irrelevant past event, or to mark current independence, or perhaps, as a reminder of what a country is capable of

This 4^th of July, I think I’m going to forget about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, et. al, and raise a cold Sam Adams to current efforts to resurrect independence, in all its forms.