The Pursuit of Happiness

You know those silly brain teasers everyone's little cousin is always asking, trying to stump the adults with basic logic?  You know the ones...
If a man has 9 sheep and all but 3 die, how many are left?
Can a man marry his widow's sister?
Is there a 4th of July in other countries?

That last one's pertinent today.  "No!" you respond, while the little one laughs at your blunder and says "There IS!  And a 5th, and a 6th..."

Well, you can tell him that he's correct, and that in fact there is another country who has July 4th marked on the calendar.  We share this day with our brothers and sisters in Rwanda, that great and beautiful "Land of a Thousand Hills."  It is their day of liberation not from colonialism, but from a regime that orchestrated a slaughter of its people; July 4th marks the end of the genocide.  We should be humbled to recognize that while ours is a day of great pride and joy, in Rwanda it is a bittersweet commemoration.

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I think there's an important lesson to be learned as we're watching fireworks and grilling hot dogs with our families today.  It would serve us well to take a moment to remember where this country was 250 years ago.  Under an oppressive colonial regime, Americans of days long past struggled for their freedom from a system whose only objective was the economic prosperity of the Royal Crown.  After fighting a war for our independence, we struggled for years to thrive economically and maintain political stability.

It didn't come easy and it wasn't without failures.

Sound like any other region of the world we know and love?

We are centuries ahead of the third world, quite literally speaking.  In particular, African countries did not begin to achieve independence until the 1950s, with South Africa being the last to achieve freedom as recently as 1994.  That's not much time to catch up to a nation who has been independent since 1776.

Americans and Africans (and South Americans... and Indians... and the list goes on) went through the same struggle, the fight for freedom.  We often forget, however, how fundamentally similar we all really are.  The differences between us are many, but they are details that don't always reflect the bigger picture.  We may have smooth asphalt and free WiFi while others have dirt roads and 6-day power outages, but at the end of the day, we all want the same things: freedom, love, laughter, security, success, and happiness.

I know its a lot to ask, to ponder these things on a day that's meant for kicking back, relaxing, and enjoying your family and friends.  But what better time than when you're surrounded by life's simple pleasures to reflect on the universal similarities between each of us and our fellow man, whether they be the kids down the street or the woman on the other side of the world under the hot African sun selling mangoes in her market stall to send her kids to school.

On this day, take a moment to remember those still fighting for their freedom, because it has never come easy for any of us.  Think of those still struggling on the road to redemption.  May we all one day enjoy the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I've said it once, I'll say it an infinite number of times... We're all in this together.


Happy 4th of July, everyone.