Ok, first let me say that I love my wife and will refrain from any name calling in this thread.

Second, we are all doomed.

Now before I go any further let me make it clear that she is college educated.She works as a R.N. at a major hospital in our city and peoples lives are in her hands everyday.

I flunked out of H.S. because I "didn't apply myself". I have no college degree and am currently unemployed.

I happened to ask her if she knew why we celebrate July 4th yesterday.
Don't ask me why I opened up that can of worms but I did.

Her response?

" Because that's the day we buy fireworks and stuff ".
To which I said, " Yes but we buy fireworks and set them off in celebration of something, do you know what "?

Her: "Yeah, because that's the day the declaration of independence was signed"
Whew, I was relieved. I thought for a moment there that we were in the clear. I could have just kept my mouth shut right then and there and gone to bed last night thinking everything was o.k. But noooooooo.

Me: Ok, what was the declaration of independence?.

Her: It was the day the Liberty Bell was cracked right"?

Me: "Nope, that's not why we celebrate on the 4th".

Her: " It was like, when we freed ourselves from France or something wasn't it"?


Now my purpose for this thread is to find out how many more of "Them" there are out there. If you have a husband,wife,sister,brother,mother,aunt,uncle,boyfriend,girlfriend nearby please take a moment to ask them this very important question and report back to me.

I am not sure if it will make me feel better or worse at this point but I need answers.

Thanks.

Me:

[edit on 4-7-2009 by Jesus H Christ]

everyone i know knows why we celebrate. was she maybe just tired and stressed from work or something?

Just tell her it commemorates a time when we used to be free... you know, before the corporateocracy took over and implemented sweeping socialism.

I was well please today. A man I know came up to me and said, "Happy Independence Day!" I smiled and wished him the same.

Some people do know, and it's sad that so many don't.

Best of luck with you wife. [smile]

Does she work in my hospital?

A few weeks ago I was speculating with another nurse about what the Taliban was going to do in Pakistan. The third nurse, overhearing the conversation asked, "Who is the Taliban?" Then asked where they were at. There aren't any caves around here, so I don't know where this nurse has been living! I would also think that being a woman, she would know who the Taliban are because of their extreme oppression of women. Not a clue.

A few weeks before that incident, I tried to discuss a news story I heard concerning al-Qaeda. 3/3 nurses I approached didn't know who al-Qaeda was. I just gave up. What do these people do with their brains? They say they watch the news (MSM), but obviously nothing sinks in---for YEARS.

Oh yeah, I know, they follow who is on Dancing With the Stars.

So yeah, I believe your wife doesn't know what the 4th of July is about. If you want to have more fun, ask 10 Americans why the Civil War was fought. I'll bet you 100% of the people tell you it was fought over whether or not we would allow slavery to continue.

Even though I work in a big hospital, there is really no one I can talk to unless I want to talk about what is on TV (I don't own one.), children(I don't have any), religion (I'm not religious), or the failures of management (career ending).

I try very hard to not get infuriated with people who don't know or CARE about history.

My greatest fear is that the SHTF, and the survivors who start over are the ones who never cared enough to learn anything. Back to the Dark Ages in more ways than one.

Thanks to all who've replied so far. I don't feel so all alone.

I have to say that I am no history major myselfand don't expect my wife to be either.

What I do expect is that when "WE" as a country or individually celebrate a holiday I expect people to know Why in the ****
we celebrate it. I wonder how many people are wasting their hard earned paychecks on pointless fireworks, setting them off in the streets whilst chuggin' beer, and chanting USA,USA,USA all the while having no friggin' clue as to what it is they are celebrating.

Since your wife is an RN, I would give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she was just tired.

Unfortunately, there are many people that don't know the history of the US. Or what's going on in the world. For example, last year when Russia and Georgia were going at it, I knew a woman who sincerely thought that Russia was invading Georgia, the state. She told me that it was very confusing to her why we weren't sending the military into Georgia to protect Atlanta, Savannah, and all the preach trees.

---

Just thought I'd mention, that apparently the Germans here on my street know what today is about--they're setting fireworks off! Haha.

Coming from somebody outside america, I wonder why does it really matter?

Sometimes it seems america acts like it's a religion or something, I'm suprised there are no churches for patriots.

My point is not everyone has the same interests, some people want to try and enjoy life, and not dwell on the past and into politics, where everyone takes things way too serious all the time.

In my opinion Politics not religion is the main cause of our world problems, and not because politics are bad of course, but because people are TOO serious in this world, which is why they can't get along with each other.

Although saying all that, ignorance is also a big part of the world problems, ignorance combined with being too serious, well that's a disaster haha, so I see why you would be worried.

Anyway I hope you just explained to her the history, so now she knows, we learn something new everyday.



[edit on 4-7-2009 by _Phoenix_]

4th of )uly is when some dirty rebels broke away from the mother country through chance. But we'll be back lol

How many doctors and lawyers would be able to tell you whether or not the Federal Reserve is a private banking conglomerate? Education nowadays means jack #.

As far as the 4th of July. It's a sham! I can't believe how indoctrinated we all have become. Sure we wrote the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and all that crap. But we never really won our sovereignty nor our freedom. Under the guise of individual freedom we find the shackles of economic freedom. Our country never won our economic freedom, which was the entire point of the Revolution. The 'banksters' and the Bank of England NEVER lost their grip on our country and the Colonies. Sure we had times of prosperity but look at where we are today. The shackles of the banksters are heavier than ever. The 4th of July is a sham, always has been. Until we have true economic freedom personal freedoms won't matter much.

The Founding Fathers were especially Jefferson and Jackson were amazing. But the grand experiment never got off the ground. The battle rages on today, and we are losing miserably. But this country and the "Vision" our Founding Father's had are still worth fighting for.

Was it to celebrate baseball and hot dogs and drink cold beer?