Many Americans are making their plans for July 4th. Which for a good many means wondering where should they go in order to best witness the fireworks!
At this point the question can be asked: what exactly are we celebrating?
Many are aware, if only vaguely, of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on this date. Stating that the colonies will no longer be beholden to the Crown. But the celebration has morphed a bit, into a celebration of American exceptionalism. This exceptionalism includes not just having the largest economy in the world, but a high standard of living made possible by this economy. A standard of living that is the envy of the rest of the world.
So one related question that can be asked is, how are we as a nation doing? Are we by working hard able to increase our fortunes and enjoy a higher quality of life – and if not for ourselves, for our children?
The answers vary: it depends on who you ask.
If you are in the top 10 or 20% in household wealth, things are going pretty damn well indeed. Wow, check out those asset valuations, particularly stocks!
If you’re unemployed, perhaps armed with a college degree, it’s a bit different. The difficulty of getting that first job, even with a once vaunted Computer Science (or related) degree, is becoming apparent. And dismay coming from those with experience, who have been laid off, is also on the rise. There is increasing talk of AI starting to replace roles such as software developers and those in marketing. Representing jobs that paid solid middle-class incomes.
It’s also quite different for migrants who came here to find work, to have a better life than from the country of birth. Not a few of them are not just getting deported, but find themselves demonized. Ok, so they weren’t American citizens. But still, there was once an attendant notion that American exceptionalism was like a magnet, attracting ambitious people from abroad who wanted to take part in this exceptionalism.
Then there is the matter of many others who are working, but struggling financially. From a number of recent surveys a pretty consistent result is found that shows around 60% of working Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. There are a multitude of signs many consumers are having to cut back. And then there is the record level of consumer debt, some of it now in the form of Buy Now Pay Later loans (increasingly for everyday items). Some analysis paints an even more problematic picture. Recently the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity did some analysis and concluded around 60% of Americans cannot afford a minimal quality of life. There’s no smoke and mirrors here – they simply looked at median income and the increasingly high cost of everyday life. The latter is not just groceries, but servicing all that debt and things like car insurance (btw, via surveys it appears a lot of Americans are forgoing car insurance). To keep things going: debt.
So not for a few the scope of celebration narrows. It becomes the firework displays themselves. Not anything that they might represent.
And now, with the Immense Obscene Bill having just passed, the situation becomes more troubled. Giving the already wealthy good-sized tax breaks, while attempting to cover the costs of these breaks by cutting programs such as SNAP and Medicaid. That is, by cutting the lifelines for millions (btw the fact that there are millions who are in need of such programs is a major data point in itself – discussed further elsewhere). There is a kind of cruelty at work here. Instituted by politicians who, if not in the top wealth tiers (although many are) are still doing better than the bottom 60% or so.
BTW, millions of student loan borrowers who are behind on payments are in for a rude shock because of that bill.
And so, many are looking to be enthralled by explosions in the sky. Which occur against a deepening problematic background of increased wealth disparity, deteriorating living conditions and social relations, and so on. But then, these displays will help, if only for a short period of time, to deflect from the true state of the “greatest nation on earth.”