Patriotism is out. Anti-freedom is in.

At XX-XY Athletics we are bucking the trend.

There was a time when every American brand celebrated July 4th. As recently as twenty years ago, if you went into an Old Navy store in June, the entire display was dedicated to flag tees and flags waving and red, white and blue dog outfits. The brand overtly leaned into patriotism and summer parades and BBQs during the holiday. Because that’s what Americans did. No matter what political party. They celebrated America’s birthday and the aspiration of individual rights and liberties that it represents.

Now, if you look across great American brands you’d be hard pressed to find any reference to America’s birthday. Many feature red, white and blue — billed only as “summer colors.”

Old Navy does have the boldest red, white and blue section, but no mention of “America” or “July 4th.” It’s “red, white and on the move” only.

At the Gap there is a “summer colors” display and at Ralph Lauren there is a flag here and there on a sweater — one of their classic styles. At Beyond Yoga there are more “summer colors” and at Banana Republic it is all khaki and European vacations.

The more “sophisticated” the brand, the less reference to patriotism. Because patriotism is hopelessly uncool and down-market. Patriotism is for the plebes, not the premium fashion buyers who reside in urban centers and hate America. Nevertheless, these brands seem to want to capitalize on folks who might be patriotic without pissing off the “wokesters” who seem to hate living here, despite the fact that the people from the countries that American protesters wave flags from seem to be desperately clamoring to come live here.

Make it make sense.

Patriotism has reached an all-time low. A record low 58% of U.S. adults say they are “extremely” (41%) or “very” (17%) proud to be American, down from prior years. Recent polling shows that Democrats and Independents are less likely to view patriotism as a positive force in the country compared to Republicans.

Instead of buying red, white and blue outfits for the neighborhood BBQ and fireworks, the urbanites in city centers are planning on attending Free America anti-Trump protests on July 4th, sponsored by the Women’s March.

“This July 4th, while the U.S. marks Independence Day, we'll gather across the country—on porches, in town squares, backyards, and streets — to stand for real freedom and build a vision of a Free America brick by brick,” Women's March says on its website.

I’m not sure what freedoms the Women’s March thinks have been lost. Despite the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision in June 2022, which overturned Roe v. Wade, national abortion numbers have increased. The Guttmacher Institute reported an estimated 1,037,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2023, the first full year post-Dobbs, representing an 11% increase from 2020, with a rate of 15.9 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age—the highest in over a decade.

I’m also not sure where the Women’s March ladies were on June 23rd, the anniversary of Title IX, but they weren’t protesting the fact that males are stealing girls’ and women’s opportunities in education and sports.

The Left doesn’t seem to actually care much about women’s rights really. And they definitely don’t care about freedom. They are the compliant rule-makers wanting more public health dictates and more HR employees policing their speech. They want laws — like the HB 25-1312 in Colorado — that make “misgendering” a discriminatory act.

The naysayer response to my recent “No HR” statements seem to sum up pretty concisely the views of the new generation of rule-wanters. The most common criticism: You don’t want to be held accountable. We need HR to hold rogues like you “accountable” (accountable for what?) and you hate that.

No. I hold myself accountable. I speak respectfully but directly. I don’t need an unthinking, compliant, officious HR lady to tell me how to be good. I decide that. And I certainly don’t need an HR person to hold me accountable for business results. I take that seriously and I don’t think any of them could read a P&L if they grok’ed how to do it.

I believe in personal accountability and I hold my employees to that standard as well. I don’t need people who don’t make anything, don’t create anything and don’t do anything except exist as a massive cost center to monitor my behavior.

But most folks seem to want to be told what to do. The Left, in particular, in lieu of religion, seem to desire a moral framework to follow. A set of rules to be “good.” The formerly rebellious left (think: hippies, punks, skaters) of the past seem to be the most compliant rule-following sticklers (i.e. cancellers) today. They feign rebellion and “good trouble” with blue hair and piercings (that they all have) while being the most conformist, non-punk rock, elitist hypocrites fathomable.

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I’m reminded of a little poster my dad had on the wall of his office while I was growing up. I’m paraphrasing but it said something like: The only thing people want more than freedom is slavery.

It’s dramatic but it makes the point. People want a set of rules to follow. They want to color between the lines. They want to be told what to do. They will exchange their freedom for the promise of safety any day of the week. They want to all be the same, but a little different, so they can pretend at individualism.

A response in the NY Post to my No HR tirade sums it up:

And that brings me to The Brothers Karamazov and The Grand Inquisitor character. The Grand Inquisitor argues that humanity, despite its desire for freedom, struggles with the burden of choice and the anxiety that comes with it. He states that many people would gladly trade their freedom for the security of having someone else decide for them, especially if it means guaranteed basic needs. (h/t to my dad on this reference.)

Something I’ve been thinking about for a long time now — since covid — is that the Left feels to me like the most aggressively conformist cohort right now. San Francisco being the epitome of that, exhibited during covid. More rules, more masks, more 6-feet-distancing, more being locked at home, less school for our kids and less freedom to make one’s own choices overall. Quite literally the government and public health were saying: give us your freedom and we will give you safety.

No thanks.

This is not the party I felt a kinship with back in the 90s. I’ve often said that if you ever felt like a weirdo, deep blue San Francisco was the place for you in the 1990s. No more. Now if you aren’t begging for a moral framework by which to abide, and you don’t uphold it with absolute fervor (pronouns anyone?), you will be banished. You can be a total hypocrite in real life. You can make Google millions and fly private. But if you affect the pose of a “rebel” leftie — eg the aforementioned blue hair and piercings plus some neopronouns and a non-Tesla electric vehicle — while following every authoritarian rule imaginable, you’ll be happy there. If you want to decide anything for yourself, you’ll probably want to leave. Like me and my husband did.

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So this July 4th, we at XX-XY Athletics are honoring the nation’s birthday because we value liberty.

America is built on an idea—freedom, opportunity, and the ability to shape your own future. It is so inherently optimistic. There is no other country like this on earth. And despite its flaws, we strive to improve and deliver on the promise of this visionary project. The Civil Rights Movement, women’s suffrage and Title IX all show that America can evolve, and get better and work to fulfill the promise of the founders. That’s something to take pride in: the freedom to demand better and see it happen.

We’ve got a new ad launching shortly from XX-XY Athletics. Until then, here are some outtakes for you to enjoy. We may be the only brand celebrating the 4th. And that makes us pretty punk rock these days.