Posted by
Joseph Grant on Thursday, July 09, 2009 12:00:00 AM
I was disappointed to learn that some municipalities this year cancelled or considered canceling Independence Day Celebrations. The reason for canceling celebrations had to due with financial considerations.
In a sense its nice that government agencies and municipalities are finally searching for ways to tighten their proverbial belts. The question is whether events celebrating American Independence Day should be amongst the cuts. Certainly other events such as Seattle's Gay Pride Parade will not share a similar fate.
Independence Day is one of the most shared holidays amongst Americans. No religion, social belonging, lifestyle, et cetera are requisite to celebrating the holiday. It is curious why the possibility of cutting celebrations is so easily thrown in with other budget cutting measures. Perhaps that is because we have come to celebrate the 4th of July and not Independence Day.