I was talking to one of my friends and he mentioned staying home on July 4, citing how there are a lot of really ugly things going on in the US.

After thinking about this myself, I’m starting to feel the same way. Instead of being proud of the country, I’m feeling like I’m just another wallet that companies and the government are trying to suck all the money out of.

The cost of living is going up, the housing market is a nightmare, I don’t feel very confident in our government at all, the job market is a nightmare…

I think I’ll be staying home this year too… anyone else?

  • Bwaz@lemmy.world
    4·
    5 months ago

    We used to have porch lights twinkling in red, white, and blue all July. This year, we’re just flashing blue adamently. And that only because our lights can’t radiate black.

  • paperazzi@lemmy.world
    164·
    5 months ago

    Canadian here and we celebrated the fuck out of our national holiday which just passed. We have a stronger feeling of solidarity than we’ve felt in a long time. Despite the threats of annexation and shifting tariffs, we are feeling more hopeful than we have in many years, possibly because we’re making new friends in the global sandbox and coming into our own power now instead of constantly kowtowing to the USA in all matters.

    Except a few folks in Alberta who would love to be part of the modern Nazi regime. Fuck them, tho.

    • AstralPath@lemmy.ca
      102·
      5 months ago

      Personally, I’m not feeling that same vibe. I think the solidarity against the US is a very good thing, but the sheer amount of ways Canada is just “America Light” is very depressing. Its to the point that our flag has been so sullied by absolutely shit tier movements in the last 5 years that I can’t stand to see it anymore.

      Every time I see a private flag pole, bumper stickers or anything kind of patriotic merch my knee jerk reaction is “I bet this dude’s a fuckwad.” I know that I’m painting with a huge and shitty brush but I just can’t even fight against it anymore. I know it’s wrong. I just don’t care, and that makes me sad.

      I live comfortably here, but given even a minutely convenient reason to emigrate I think I’d take it.

      Canada is a car infested, anti-human shit hole just like America. To paraphrase Steve Harris of Iron Maiden a bit “We oil the jaws of the war capitalist machine and feed it with our babies immigrants.”

      • paperazzi@lemmy.world
        3·
        5 months ago

        I’ve felt like that for years, too. But Canadians boycotting en masses, then soundly rejecting mini-Trump has given me hope. Since then, our leader has been reaching out to other countries to form new relationships and deals. We just signed a rare earth minerals deal with Greenland, of all places.

        Yes, Canada has been hamstrung by US demands but the vice-grip they’ve had over us has deteriorated. This wouldn’t have happened if not every single other country in the world was going through the same thing. So it feels a bit like a rebirth to me, with the possibility of finally being able to come into our own as a nation.

  • FollyDolly@lemmy.world
    8·
    5 months ago

    I’m not doing anything for the forth. Fuck America, I am not celebrating my country, because my country wants me dead. Fuck em.

  • tisktisk@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    5 months ago

    This is all I’ve talked about at work.
    What are we supposed to take pride in specifically? I suppose pride in our resilience–there is great potential to learn from our repetitious failures surely

  • Furbag@lemmy.world
    7·
    5 months ago

    There’s nothing left to be proud of. Just vague platitudes about freedom and performative military worship that have been socially beaten into people since 2001. I have no faith remaining in my fellow countrymen. I am unable to clearly see a future for myself living here as I am now. What is left to be patriotic about?

    All the true patriots are dead. They were buried long ago. Modern patriotism is a marketing gimmick. I refuse to be a party to it.

  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
    351·
    5 months ago

    What the fuck would I have to be proud of? The US has been on a downward trend for a long time and that’s accelerating

  • thatradomguy@lemmy.world
    165·
    5 months ago

    Why feel patriotic for a country that literally stole/claimed what wasn’t theirs to being with? Never felt such a thing for this so called “first world”.

    • OccamsRazer@lemmy.world
      45·
      5 months ago

      Whose was it? At what point in history was ownership established and why was it not the previously displaced people’s instead? How long does it take to establish ownership, and what means are justified to do so? Who exactly is the United States anyway?

      • Skeezix@lemmy.worldEnglish
        61·
        5 months ago

        World history for millennia has shown that the conquerors write the rules. Ownership is established immediately upon victory. It matters not if you’re a yanomamo tribe living 1000 years ago or a modern military 1st world country. The victors write the rules.

        • FlyingCircus@lemmy.world
          2·
          5 months ago

          Isn’t the whole point of civilization to get away from the tyranny of men with sharp sticks? We can’t let the crimes of our ancestors justify modern crimes.