Fourth of July

The enduring promise of the American Dream is written all over this woman’s face.Being born mid-century and being born an American, she’s lived through a more prosperous and less violent period than any the world has experienced.

Her country hasn’t seen war within its borders during her lifetime, nukes weren’t deployed. She’s been spared decades-long famines and droughts. Much of the working class has earned living wages. Store shelves have been stocked with foods and conveniences unimaginable even decades earlier

She grew up learning patriotic slogans and accepting myths that marshaled a nation during WWII. Schoolbooks described a land of exceptional virtue and opportunity that welcomed huddled masses from around the world.

She’s seen eighteen presidential inaugurations and depending on how she consumes events of the day, and how capable she is of reexamining her own thinking, her understanding of America today may be different from the ideas she inherited.

The child sitting on her lap knows nothing of the past and even less of the future that awaits him. He’s not sure why his (grandmother?) is having him wave a flag; but the ice cream and fireworks later in the day, those he will understand.

Seventy years from now, he may take a child to an Independence Day parade. And what he explains to him or her will depend on the whims of history and on the wisdom of American voters and the continued peaceful transition of power.

Thanks to Roland Lieber, who captured this image in a small town on the western edge of the Great Lakes.