Independence from China

Independence Day; a time of celebration, but as in a video I saw last night, not a time of remembrance. In the video the interviewer was asking folks on a California beach from what country our forefathers rebelled against to found America. Simple enough questions that any 3rd grader would know the answer; well, it seems that the majority of the beach-goers that day thought the answer was China!
Yeah, that’s right, China! These were well-dressed people who just didn’t have a clue about our nation’s history (even a very basic one like that!). When asked why we celebrated the 4th of July, many did not know until the interviewer reminded them about our struggle for independence, then asking them from what nation we separated to form the United States. This is probably the same crowd who thinks that Memorial Day is the celebration of the start of summer!!!
History is vitally important as the late George Santayana (December 16, 1863-September 26, 1953) testified to in Reason in Common Sense (1905); “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Our country has seen many challenges, but the growing apathy about our history and the roots of our nation is alarming, especially when you consider how many of the political pundits (on both sides of the aisle!) seem bent on re-writing our history to conform to their views. Sir Francis Bacon, in his Meditationes Sacrae (1597), made the remark, “…knowledge itself is power…” Unfortunately in this country today, it seems the overriding principle is “Ignorance is bliss.”