A July 4th Video Message
On rebellion, revolution, and insurgency.
Illustration: “The Horse America throwing its Master: King George III unseated.” (Pro-revolutionary English cartoon by William White, 1779.)
Above a brief message from me and The Zero Hour for the Fourth of July. A slightly-edited transcript is below, followed by my response to the New York Times’ list of “definitive” movies about America.
Transcript
Well, it’s the 4th of July again. They’re calling it the 250th birthday of the United States of America, which brings to mind at least a couple of quotes. One is from a poet I quote a lot, William Blake. In “America: A Prophecy,” the spirit of America encounters the spirit of insurrection, of revolution, of rebellion, of human assertion—of self-respect. And the spirit of America says to the spirit of revolution, “I know thee, I have found thee, and I will not let thee go.”
So on this, the 250th birthday of the American Revolution, that’s my feeling toward the revolutionary spirit.
The other quote is from a source I don’t cite very often and would not necessarily want to be known for citing, and that’s the Eagles. The Eagles, you may recall, had a song—I think it was the Eagles—that said, “What do you do when your dreams come true, and it’s not quite like you planned?”
I wasn’t born yesterday. I know that the American Revolution was a conflict of economic interests. I know the class dynamics. I get it. I get that slaveholders were creators of this revolution. I get that. I get the silly naivete of the musical “Hamilton.”, Hamilton didn’t own slaves, but he certainly administered the trafficking of them. Read up on that if you like.
So I’m not naive. I know that when I say the dream didn’t quite work out as was planned, I’m thinking of people like William Blake and the British rebel movement—people who saw in the American Revolution a spirit of self-assertion, a spirit of independence, a spirit of insurgency, and they thought that spirit could set all of humanity on fire.
It hasn’t quite worked out the way that way. In fact, this Fourth of July, it seems the only thing we’re setting on fire in the middle of this heat wave is .... Well, let’s put it this way. Normally we grill hot dogs on the Fourth. This year, in the middle of this heat wave, we’re grilling ourselves.
The spirit of revolution that has been so often celebrated as part of the American legacy has not worked out as planned. But I still have faith in the spirit of revolution. So rather than going for detached cynicism, and even though I understand the true motivations behind the American Revolution, I still believe in the American Revolution.
So if you’re hearing this on the 4th, or if you’re hearing this after the 4th, my sentiment remains the same towards this admirable spirit of independence and assertion of our rights, that task that is not done yet: I know thee, I have found thee, and I will not let you go.
The Real American Movies
Forget the New York Times list of the “definitive” movies about America. That’s just a bunch of critics talking. These are the films that really get it right!