Happy B-Day, USA!

My thoughts today are with the USA and want to wish it a happy b-day. I’m going to a party at the American Consulate here in Chennai today and am excited to meet some new people there. I can’t help but compare our independence with India’s for a minute while I’m here, for what it’s worth. In fact, India has a national holiday about a month after hours (August 15th) called Independence Day. I don’t think barbecues and fireworks are as big a deal as a flag hoisting ceremony but the spirit is the same nonetheless, kicking out the British and forming something new and better than colonial rule.

I think it’s fascinating looking at the differences in how we got our independence. This could be a novel and I need to get out so I’ll keep it short. We did it the American way, guns, militias and lots of booze (do some research on how Founding Fathers survived the summer heat with all those guys in a little room in Philly to write the Declaration of Independence or got uninterested townspeople to start the famous riots or recruited new soldiers if you don’t believe me). In addition, the leaders of our independence movement were almost exclusively military leaders and they were all actually English, non-native Americans. In contrast, India achieved their independence mostly through nonviolent means, although there was certainly bloodshed and militants involved as well. Their two most famous leaders were both lawyers, Nehru and Gandhi, both of whom preached nonviolence, and practically everyone involved in the Indian independence struggle were native Indians.

The basic reason for wanting independence is the same in both cases, we were tired of colonial powers mooching off us and not giving us the freedom that we deserved. Also, in both instances the colonial powers were replaced with democracy, ensuring that the people actually living in these areas get a say in what their rulers were doing. I guess this is the one silver lining in both of our independence struggles, although both countries had to fight (in one meaning of the word or another) to get their independence they both came out of it as strong democracies. In fact, India and America are the two most populous democracies in the world, although our 300 million does come in a distant second to their 1.15 billion… Just some thoughts, happy b-day USA, I hope everyone has a great day back home!

PS, They LOVE fireworks here, I've seen a ton, mainly for weddings I think!