After a long and grueling “pride month”, where we celebrated everything that is “stunning and brave”, we’re right around the corner from celebrating what is personally our favorite holiday — Independence Day.
For those of you who never made it past the second grade, the Fourth of July celebrates the United States’ independence following its war with its former colonial authority, the United Kingdom. Obviously, relations between the U.S. and the U.K. have warmed considerably over the past few hundred years — now considered to be among the closest out of any international relationship.
And it makes sense: the U.S. and the U.K. share a language, a history, an appreciation for liberal democracy, capitalism, and constitutional governance. Without classical British cultural movements, there would be no America as we understand it today. We may not follow Australia, Canada, and New Zealand’s example in putting Queen Elizabeth’s face on our currency, but the reverence for our nation’s uniquely English influence has been very apparent.
In 2019, however, there are pretty clear differences. See, in the United States, you’re free to be free — and that can mean saying or doing things others find offensive or reprehensible. In the United Kingdom, a YouTuber was actually arrested and fined for posting a video of his dog doing a Nazi salute. Stupid? Sure. Criminal? Hardly.
Considering how backward this is, it’s no wonder why the U.K. can’t follow through with its own independence movement right now with Brexit.
~ Facts Not Memes
