Longtime TOA readers will recall that in my early days I often 'wrote to the occasion' and used the date of the post to determine my topic. The first time I recall doing it was on Memorial Day 2016 (sort of) and I kept up the pace for a few additional holidays. But I also know at some point I stopped (thank God).
As tomorrow's holiday approaches, I decided it was an appropriate moment to go back and fact-check myself. What TOA fireworks have I lit off on past Independence Days?
Here are the results.
July 4, 2016 - 'Birthdays'
Honestly, a post called 'Birthdays' on July 4? It gets better from there, though. Overall, this post was surprisingly Not Bad. I don't usually enjoy rereading my own stuff (and I don't recommend others reread this one) but I managed just fine getting through 'Birthdays'. It's definitely an extinct style of TOA (and again, thank God) - it's the essay equivalent of examining each strand of hair when just a little more work could bring it all together into a coherent hairstyle. These days, I'm more willing and capable of doing that styling work. (But to be fair, back then my hair often was every loose strand flying about in all directions.)
Here's something I wrote in 'Birthdays' that I'm happy to have on the record:
"On my first July 4, a few months after moving here from Japan, we went to see the town's annual 5K road race. The start line was right in front of us and the finish line was there, too, so we waited for the winners of the race to return.
The man who returned first was a little early, suspiciously so. It turned out that he took a shortcut and as a result came in ahead of his competition. The race he ran was not a real race. His race was an easier race and his race made it a forgone conclusion that he would come out ahead of those running a different race. He worked hard, no doubt, but his idea about the race was why he 'won'. His race was a fabrication."
July 4, 2017 - no post
So much for the myth of TOA history...
The next day I posted an extended thought about job interviews, a post I find far more readable though not quite as insightful as 'Birthdays'. The summary - giving advice is for people who fail to lead by example.
July 4, 2018 - 'Happy Fourth'
I'm back to my supposed roots in 2018 with some reflections on the national anthem. The writing is better, but the post is useless. No courage, no risks, no point. I hate to put it this way but I need to be my own harshest critic. 'Happy Fourth' is the kind of writing you'd expect from someone with a corporate job.
The opening sentence sums it up - 'Not much to go with today...' - yes indeed, how appropriate. The best reason to abandon traditions like 'write a July 4 post related to July 4' is that you inevitably force yourself to speak when you have nothing to say, and the end result is that you end up saying nothing, or worse.
July 4, 2019 - 'Economic Democracy'
Kind of a classic TOA post where I try to explain something I barely understand, yet I go for it because I sense I understand it better than everyone else. To put it another way, I had something to say, but I didn't know how to say it.
The crux of the post is that in an era where everyone has their own definition of socialism, the one I think works best says 'socialism = economic democracy'. It's nice that I wrote this a year ago because in this moment, July 2020, I don't think it would be an appropriate topic. But the truth remains that in order for all people in America to exercise the fullest extent of their rights, for America to live up to its mission statement of equality for all within a democratic system, we have to put everyone's feet on the same basic economic foundation. We have to acknowledge that democracy means something different than it did in 1776. It's a massive job ahead of us, so let's get to work.
From last year -
"One thing a free market and a democracy have in common is that both systems function best when every individual is free to make informed decisions. Poverty prevents these systems from functioning at their best which means poverty is an anti-democratic disease that must be cured."
July 4, 2020...
This look like a time machine to you? Enjoy your day off, see you tomorrow.
