This Fourth of July, staying home is patriotic

This Fourth of July in New Mexico, there will be few parades, community fireworks or other traditional celebrations of our common heritage. Forget about a pancake breakfast on the Plaza, car shows or the other beloved Santa Fe tributes to freedom, all part of celebrating July 4, 1776, when the founders of a nation adopted the Declaration of Independence dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

But guess what? A subdued Fourth of July during the pandemic summer of 2020 is OK. It’s better than OK. In the best of American traditions, we should celebrate this Fourth of July quietly, at home. Light up a few sparklers in the driveway for the kids. Grill burgers or hot dogs. Sip lemonade and swap stories. Avoiding crowds and big bangs over the city are a wonderful way to celebrate our national birthday.

In this United States of America, our ancestors, whether at Valley Forge across a continent or here on New Mexico’s harsh frontier, knew how to sacrifice in the moment for the long-term good.

Staying home on the Fourth will make a difference in slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus, leading to a more normal school opening the fall, the ability of businesses to operate and individuals being able to resume their lives unimpeded.

Now isn’t the moment to whine about missing majestic fireworks or to scream about lost freedoms, all because the governor has mandated face masks or told us to stay home.

Now is the moment to focus on our shared responsibilities to one another. Rights, after all, have responsibilities, but Americans have a tendency to embrace the first and forget the other.

Today’s inheritors of the American dream should look to the past and follow the example of those men and women who sacrificed for the common good — whether collecting scrap for the war effort, growing victory gardens or using ration books to buy food.

Because the United States of America, while founded on the notion of individual liberty, also was dedicated to the proposition that we are in this experiment in democracy together. As Benjamin Franklin was famously believed to have said on July 2, 1776: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately.”

And so it must be during this time of pandemic, with the nation coming together to stop COVID-19. If we fail, our country will suffer — we will hang separately, in other words, whether through economic disaster or thousands more unnecessary deaths.

Folks can be just as proud of the United States sitting on the porch as they are at massive fireworks displays, marching in packed parades or barbecuing in the great outdoors.

Setting aside the fun of the moment for a better future is our shared legacy, should we embrace it. Celebrate apart. That way, we ensure our common good and move toward our country’s larger promise: liberty and justice for all.