On July 4th, 1776, a new set of principles for a nation were established, the document was revolutionary—literally. The second paragraph contains this passage:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…

We fought a war to establish a separate nation based on the founding principles of the Declaration of Independence. And 87 years later we fought another one to preserve the nation thus founded from the idea that the “consent of the governed” meant only rich white slave owners. As Lincoln stated that day in Gettysburg:

…that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

As we fast forward to a tradition of celebrating with barbecues, burgers and fireworks and the Star Spangled Banner, we need to also remember that the fireworks, while they are pretty, represent war, battle and death. These are what followed the statements above in order to defend those principles from the forces that favor enslavement as a basic economic principle.

And that fight has not paused. In the 1930s there was a coup planned by fascist-leaning industrialists to depose F.D.R. and replace him with a Marine general, Smedley Butler. When approached Butler had a singular response when asked by Gerald C. MacGuire if he was interested in running the organization behind it:

“I am interested in it, but I do not know about heading it,” Butler told the bond salesman, as he resolved to report everything he had learned to Congress. “I am very greatly interested in it, because, you know, Jerry, my interest is, my one hobby is, maintaining a democracy. If you get these 500,000 soldiers advocating anything smelling of fascism, I am going to get 500,000 more and lick the hell out of you, and we will have a real war right at home.”

The story of this plot was entertainingly told in the film Amsterdam, with Robert DeNiro playing General Butler. No prosecutions followed the exposure of what became known as the Business Plot.

Fast forward again to Jan 6. 2021 and we have another attempt to take over the country for the ambitions of a wannabe dictator. Again, backed by industrialists and promoting an agenda where the rights of the many are reduced in favor of the rights of a few—in this case, the votes of a distinctly larger majority of American voters.

Many prosecutions have followed this plot, but notably none of the planners or instigators have been charged as yet. What the hell, it’s only been two and a half years.

Perhaps the most significant factor in the Jan 6 coup attempt is that it is still on-going. The activity has taken different forms, but our democratic form of government and its structure and operation is more at risk now than at any time in its history.

We have just witnessed a Supreme Court—a third of whose justices were appointed by a man who has and is still trying to destroy our democracy—as it did away with a woman’s right to autonomy over her own body and codified discrimination against LBGTQ people, opening the door to the return of Jim Crow type laws. And these from the same court that earlier, in the Citizens United decision, prioritized the rights of corporations over individuals.

The man who is the obvious ring leader and catalyst for the Jan 6 coup attempt is the front running candidate for the Republican Party for the 2024 presidential election. So, the fact that our core principles as a nation are under attack could not be any more stark.

The current President, though flawed in many ways—show me a perfect person and I’ll show you a fraud as perfection does not exist—is making definite and laudable progress. A fact that Trump’s fans and backers scream about in derision as often as possible.

Thus we return to our headline. Sure we have a lot to celebrate. But if we want to continue to celebrate July 4th for what it really means, we better make damn sure we are confronting the efforts to tear those ideals down.