Independence Day: What is There to Celebrate?
The ideal of individual freedom is more than a will-o'-the-wisp. It was widely appreciated in the past and so may become widely appreciated in the future.
The Fourth of July is upon us once again—time for many Americans to fly the flag, take the tots to see local fireworks, and praise America as the greatest country that has existed in the annals of humankind or that ever will exist until the Sun burns out.
I enjoy holidays as much as anyone. They give me a respectable excuse to avoid working and to do so with a clear conscience, even if I am late on a deadline. I applaud any plausible rationale for guilt-free indolence, and I harbor a deep resentment against the Protestant Reformers, especially the puritans, for abolishing many of the traditional Catholic holidays.
In the tradition of Aristotle, as channeled through Aquinas and other medieval philosophers, Catholic intellectuals tended to view work as a means to the end of leisure, and leisure as the time when we do things for their own sake rather than for the sake of something else. Then along came some grim Protestants who promoted a view that was later called the Protestant work ethic, according to which work is an end in itself, and leisure is to be feared as the Devil's Playground.
John's hopeful prediction did not quite pan out. It is well known, for example, that he expected Independence to be celebrated on the Second of July, since that was when American Independence was officially proclaimed by the Second Continental Congress. In addition, John did not anticipate that some of the festivities he recommended would later become illegal. Celebrate the Fourth of July with a gun and you might land in jail. If you want a bonfire or parade, you will need a special government permit. And depending on your state, the private use of fireworks ("illuminations") might get you arrested. Ironically, consumer fireworks are banned in Massachusetts, John's beloved home state, so if he were alive today and wanted to follow his own advice, he would need to go elsewhere to celebrate freedom legally.
Exactly what are we celebrating on the Fourth of July? More specifically, is there anything about Independence Day that libertarians should celebrate?
According to Palmer, "The British Americans enjoyed a lighter tax burden than [almost] any other people of the Western World." Americans "paid no direct taxes, and not much in the way of customs duties, to the central government." British Americans enjoyed many other freedoms as well, and this fact led some skeptics, including some modern historians, to question the motives of those Americans who fought against the British during the Revolution. Why would a people with so much freedom—more freedom than found anywhere in Europe and more freedom, in certain crucial areas, than Americans enjoy today—take up arms against a relatively benign government?
Paine's reference to "a general impulse" is key to understanding the colonial mentality. Revolutionary Americans felt, on a gut level, the inestimable value of individual freedom and the dangers of government power—a feeling that was articulated in writing by Paine, Jefferson, Adams, and other libertarian authors. Without that fundamental, ingrained, and widespread sentiment of freedom, the writings of American revolutionaries would have had few if any practical consequences.
So have I answered my previous question? Have I explained what libertarians can find to celebrate in Independence Day? Yes and no. There was much in colonial America (slavery in particular) that was ugly—but there was also the ideal of freedom that, however compromised in practice, was sincerely believed, felt, and acted upon by a significant portion of the population. This tells us, at the very least, that the ideal of individual freedom is more than a will-o'-the-wisp, that it was widely appreciated in the past and so may become widely appreciated in the future.
I'm not sure if all this is cause for celebration, but certainly it is cause for hope. Such nuances, however, are irrelevant to my life. If to celebrate means to goof off, then I will always celebrate the Fourth of July with the enthusiasm of a fanatical patriot.