Reddit burped up a popular post for the upcoming July 4th holiday: Beer Pong but with Roombas! Great. Young Americans, putting their God-given freedom to work have created a more challenging game to get drunk.
Not to be that girl at the party (you know, the one who sits in the corner, stone sober, judging all the stumbling, sodden lushes), but I can’t help but wonder if Americans should spare a little more time to consider their freedoms. There was a time where overindulging seemed like a well-earned tonic for all the sacrifice that built the barbecue filled with brats. I’m thinking of Boomer kids running around in their parents’ post-WWII back yard. Mom and dad earned that martini. They knew people who died  and fought for it.
Today, a 34 year old is likely living an extended childhood.
In these superficial times, when every day is occupied with the trivial (Christmas is a microaggression! fat-shaming Polynesian Disney characters! animals in pet stores!), days dedicated to vision and sacrifice should be thoughtfully considered.
It’s trendy to hate America. It’s downright “in” to view America as the sad by-product of the Western, hetero-normative, white male dominated patriarchy. Get rid of Shakespeare! Remake America!
Congratulations, Mr. President! You’ve succeeded! We have a country carried away on a Roomba; drowning their superficiality in beer; living lives of sheltered, willful ignorance.
A terrorist attack on our own soil can’t sober America up. It’s more fun to innovate drinking games and pretend. It’s easier to forget America’s greatness and self-righteously assert that patriotism is really fascism and ignore the real fascism rising and threatening the freedoms taken for granted.
Party on America! Better enjoy it while you can.
