On this day you are entitled to celebrate. That is, of course, provided you understand what you're celebrating and why. Furthermore, you owe it to yourself and your country to think about tyranny and oppression and consider whether or not the United States of America have grown to be an agent of those forces. I certainly can't and won't say if we as a nation have become an oppressive or liberating force in this world, but I refuse to spend a day devoted to the topic without taking a few minutes to reflect deeply on those ideas.

Anyone who uses the fourth of July as an excuse to have another meaningless party (but this time with US flags and red white and blue plates!) is no countryman of mine. You're not interested in the reasons for which this country was founded, and you certainly aren't going to be much help in keeping it as our founding fathers intended it to be. Like voting, freedom is a privilege we've fought very hard for. Even now there are many places in the world who don't enjoy the freedoms we take for granted. If you can't take a short amount of time from your day to honor the sacrifice and pain necessary to build this nation and to appreciate what freedom truly means, you are no countryman of mine. I wouldn't recite any pledge of allegiance with you, I wouldn't vote with you, I wouldn't debate US politics with you, and I certainly wouldn't fight to protect this country with you.

This is not the United States of Whatever. Don't bear colors for which you have no regard and don't boast the greatness of a nation for which you care little.