MUSINGS and other writing by Mark Kolke

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MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU
 
Monday, July 4, 2022
 
 
 
 
To everyone outside the U.S., happy Monday.
 
 
 
To everyone inside the U.S., may the fourth be with you.
 
 
 
On any given day, it is easy to praise the USA or just as easy to slag them because there is plenty of ammunition either way.
 
 
 
Transitioning from ‘new country’ to ‘mature country’; from third world country to first – there are massive contractions, and history lessons about war and carnage have not been adequately learned yet, but there might come a day for peace, peace-mongering, and peacekeeping.
 
 
 
When that day comes, as we all hope it might, will we need more weapons or less?
 
 
 
Will we need more laws or less?
 
 
 
Will we need more treaties or less?
 
 
 
Will the world need the United States of America, or will the United States of America need the world? 
 
 
 
And what will Canada need or give?
 
 
 
We are attached geographically, historically, and in many ways considering our origins in the timeline of European colonialism and those fleeing Europe. It seems we still are as we welcome refugees from Ukraine.
 
 
 
Americanism, Americana, and ‘we the people’ culture will dominate history books. There will be that period from the 1400s (when exploration and exploitation of what we call North America by colonists and traders from Europe – England, France, and Spain primarily – gave rise to what we call all parts north of Panama up to the North Pole) to 2022.
 
 
 
But what happens after that?
 
 
 
Whether we like or hate it, we are connected in our past and present.
 
 
 
Will we be united beyond trade treaties and border crossing protocols in our future?
 
 
 
That’s a trickier question.
 
 
 
Geographically, yes, of course.
 
 
 
We believe we own and occupy our respective countries, but in reality, our countries own and occupy us.
 
 
 
Happy 4th.
 
 

 

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