July 4, 1776: The shared myth we need now more than ever
Despite founding flaws, will our future be about how we failed or what we choose to become?
The world-renowned academic Joseph Campbell made some bold claims in his day about the power of myths, or the common stories we tell ourselves about the world. Campbell — who would influence a generation of filmmakers, novelists, and songwriters — asserted that the quality of and belief in myths determine “the rise and fall of civilizations over the long, broad course of history.” All that from a myth?
It’s true. Whether applied individually or collectively, myths are both necessary and valuable. In a societal context, they bind peoples together through a common understanding of themselves in the wider human experience. If the myth speaks to the hopes of its people, it has the power to be a “motivator, builder, and transformer of civilization,” according to Campbell. All that, because of a myth.
The United States has its own myth. It was conceived on July 4, 1776. For generations, the myth’s meaning was universally understood. But, on July 4, 2020, the founding myth has been reduced to just another battlefield in the culture war. It should not stay that way. Where there is no shared myth about the United States at its best, a vacuum opens that invites the worst in people. We are then left with a bleak…
