Los Angeles, July 4th 2022

With my characteristic good timing, I’ve chosen a moment when the US seems to be entering one of its periodic spells of paranoid reaction to pay my first visit to the country in nearly 30 years.

Fortunately I’m in California, visiting some old radical buddies, so I doubt I’ll experience anything too illiberal. If anything, the recent developments seem to have energised the left, around here at least, though I suspect that what I am observing is just one side of the country’s deepening polarisation, rather than a more general progressive shift.

Whatever; my trip is a social one, so I’m going to leave the politics for another day, and focus on catching up on a personal level with some people I haven’t seen for far too long. As you might imagine, my friends are not the most patriotic of citizens, but we’re going to settle back tonight with some beers, and a joint or two, to watch the fireworks, and dream of a better future.