Interesting article from Howard Zinn on July 4^th celebrations:

National spirit can be benign in a country that is small and lacking both in military power and a hunger for expansion (Switzerland, Norway, Costa Rica and many more). But in a nation like ours -- huge, possessing thousands of weapons of mass destruction -- what might have been harmless pride becomes an arrogant nationalism dangerous to others and to ourselves.

Having left the U.S., I’ve always been rather stupefied as to the lack of parallel nationalism outside this country. People don’t routinely hang flags outside their houses, banks, car dealers, etc. Even though one can be un-American, there is no such thing as being un-Swedish. The very concept is rather silly.

But the United States has long been subject to a sense of nationalism akin to a civic religion. We’ve created a national narrative based upon our overly mythologized inception and, especially in times of conflict, use these stories to justify oppression and scapegoating among our fellow citizens with whom we disagree. This is neither rational nor healthy.

So Happy Birthday America and all, we really do hold a great deal of potential to be a wonderful country. But let us never forget that we must also cohabitate this planet with our brothers and sisters around the world (and don’t forget all the small, furry animals either).