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# Commentary: Modern American Independence

By John R. Bell

I have an effigy of King George III ready for burning in the backyard.Maybe I’ll dump some tea leaves in the local pond, to thumb my nose at British tyranny.I might even smash an Adele record.OK — I’m not doing any of that this Independence Day. And neither are you.Of course, we’re all proud of our Revolutionary War heroes. And we’re glad we’re not subjects of Britain or any other country.But I don’t think most of us, when we watch the fireworks, are pumping our fists in anti-English fury, hollering, “In your face, Lord Cornwallis!”After all, we Americans love us some Brits. They gave us The Beatles, Downton Abbey, James Bond, Jane Austen and their greatest cultural contribution (to me, anyway), Mr. Bean.And have fought and died alongside Americans in nearly every major conflict since World War I.For most of us, our nation’s rejection of British Empire tyranny 241 years ago is a fond fact of history — not a fresh sense of triumph over the redcoats.But there’s no doubt that every Fourth of July, we feel something deep and significant about our country’s independence. And if it’s not a sense of gloating over the Battle of Yorktown, then what is it?For me, three things come to mind.**This Is Your Brain on Freedom**The first is one I think most of us take for granted: independence of thought and the freedom to express new and even unpopular ideas.America isn’t the only country where dissent is tolerated. But we’ve been at it longer than most, and we celebrate it like a national sport.Protests and counter-protests. Satire in print, in song or on the screen. Debating on social media or with friends and family. Expressing a controversial opinion on the bumper of your car. All are threads in our fabric of freedom.Our history is full of leaders, in politics and culture, who were once unpopular. Once-lonely voices whose truth eventually found them an audience of a nation.Mark Twain, Martin Luther King, J.D. Salinger, Muhammad Ali, even Elvis Presley: All were controversial in their time. Yet all had profound influence and earned the widespread respect of their compatriots.But that independence of thought, that freedom to follow the untrodden path of a new or socially dangerous idea — it’s also led our nation to be uncommonly inventive.Who else could create baseball and basketball? The electric guitar and the electric slide?The revolver and the Ferris wheel?The Sousaphone and the smartphone? The surfboard, the snowboard and the steel guitar?The crazy quilt and the crossword puzzle?Only a country that gives sanctuary to new and the different ideas could have achieved all this.**Pianos, Picks and Pens**Another American value I’m proud of on the Fourth is the independence of artistic expression and the incredible creativity Americans have shown as a result.Rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country and western, jazz, bluegrass, soul, zydeco, thrash metal, funk, folk, Tejano and hip hop: It’s incredible to realize that only one nation has created them all.But then, only one nation could:Only a nation built by the newly free, the not-yet free and the free at last.Only a nation of pioneers and prairie nomads, slaves and sharecroppers, rail workers and radish pickers. A glorious hodgepodge of the repressed, the runaways and rebellious. People with a lot to say and little to lose. And the courage to explore the frontiers of imagination.And let’s remember: Art is power. Hitler banned and even destroyed modern art and architecture. Stalin and his successors banned most Western music. The Taliban forbids all non-religious music, as does the Daesh group in what’s left of its territory. And many other regimes ban any expression they consider politically threatening.But in art and music, America has long stood independent, its tree of freedom heavy with the fruit of creativity.Something about our nation’s unique mix of diversity, democracy and desperation has made America the most artistically inventive place on earth.Only a nation that celebrates free expression could have produced Kurt Vonnegut and Curtis Mayfield. Ralph Ellison and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Langston Hughes and Howard Hughes. Carl Wilson and Carlos Santana. Chuck D and Chuck Berry. James Brown and James Hetfield. Al Green and Weird Al Yankovic. Mel Brooks and Gwendolyn Brooks.And in other art forms as well. Can you imagine a citizen of any other country coming up with The Simpsons or South Park? I can’t. (But I can think of several governments who would’ve jailed Matt Groening, as well as Trey Parker and Matt Stone, before the first episode finished airing.)In architecture, we gave the world iconoclasts like Frank Lloyd Wright, Phillip Johnson, Frank Gehry and I.M. Pei.On canvas, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Georgia O’Keeffe and Jackson Pollack.On the stage, August Wilson, Tennessee Williams and Lin-Manuel Miranda.And so many other American greats whose ideas and the form they take are like no other.**Free to Be You and Me**Finally, I think that, for many of us, our joy on Independence Day is based in part on knowing our inherited past will not necessarily be our future.We know our history bears the stain of inequality and oppression. But our imperfect, ever-improving union now has arguably greater social mobility than even some European countries.In some countries (even developed ones) families are locked into their social class, caste, title and occupation from centuries ago. In America those things mean less than anywhere else — and mean even less as time goes on.Let’s call that the independence of the individual.This triumph of individual over background has helped make America unequalled in its technological creativity and entrepreneurship. We’re one of few countries where it's routine for people to ascend the ladder of opportunity, even to the greatest heights.Let’s start with military leaders — from country boys like Marine Corps Gen. Lewis “Chesty” Puller and Army Lt. Gen. Samuel Wilson, to Army Gen. Colin Powell, a son of new Americans, who became chairman of the Joint Chiefs and secretary of State.In business, we all know about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who came from middle-class backgrounds.Sara Blakely, founder and inventor of Spanx, who became the youngest self-made female billionaire.H. Ross Perot, who turned $1,000 borrowed from his wife into a billion-dollar company.Hamdi Ulukaya, who came to America from Kurdistan with almost nothing, bought an old yogurt factory and founded the Chobani company.Along with countless others who have built smaller businesses, sustaining their communities and helping their fellow citizens achieve the American dream.Their stories are inspiring but not unusual — at least not in America.**Cheers for Freers**This Independence Day, we’ll no doubt be thankful for those patriots in 1776 and the decades since who have earned and protected America’s independence.Many of us will also be thankful for the steadfast ally we have in the United Kingdom.We might also tip our glass in thanks for the equally hard-won independence from the tyranny of groupthink, cultural uniformity and permanence of social class.For the independence that enables us to make fun of our elected leaders or debate a friend, and then share a laugh.For our good fortune to live in a nation that honors those who speak the truth when few are listening. And rewards those who invent new devices, build new businesses, and create new forms of expression.A nation that respects the conscience and creative power of the individual.A nation that, on hearing the voice of dissent, turns up the volume.A nation where renegades and refugees flourish — so that their genius unfurls and flutters in the breeze of liberty.Here’s to independence.*Bell is the editor of Loglines magazine. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and not the U.S. government.*

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