Happy Independence Day (and a message from Captain America)

I’m wishing everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July, and sharing this excerpt from issue #1 of the 2021 comic book The United States of Captain America:

This is the white picket fence fallacy that, if we’re not careful, becomes nationalism. Jingoism.

That dream isn’t real. It never was.

Because that dream doesn’t get along nicely with reality. Other cultures. Immigrants. The poor. The suffering. People easily come to be seen as “different” or “unamerican.”

The white picket fence becomes a gate to keep others out.

A good dream is shared.

Shared radically. Shared with everyone.

When something isn’t shared, it can become the American Lie.

The Lie is a real problem. Because it comes in the form of an empty promise.

A while back, we told the world they could come here for a better life. But too often we turn our backs on them.

Instead of a dream, they get handed a raw deal.

Then there is the second dream.

This one’s real.

But we don’t hold it. Or own it. Heck, we can’t even touch it.

We reach for it.

We work. We toil. We struggle. We fight. Together.

We may never reach it, but we never stop trying.

That’s my dream.

Here’s to the dream. Have a great holiday, everyone!

Also worth checking out: Happy Independence Day, superhero-style!