Lets Talk About America

The United States of America. It’s almost her birthday, and that’s got me thinking about why we still make the effort to celebrate it.

I’ve spent more time on the internet than I’d care to admit, and over the last decade or so I’ve noticed that anytime we’re talking about the USA, as an American you tend to get a lot of digital eye rolls (and flat-out hostility) from both outside and inside the country. Honestly, I live here; don’t you think I already know we’ve got problems?

(I think most competent people, here or anywhere, will admit that we’ve made some mistakes in the past - little ones, big ones, and even mistakes of the colossal, unforgivable nature. But let’s just let that rabbit hole go for tonight.)

Let’s start with what we’ve got going on now. We Americans, collectively, often get so caught up in ourselves and our little daily bubble of “me me me” that we tend to ignore everything else out there. And, for the most part, we get away with that. Even now, here I sit, in my comfortable spare bedroom sucking enough energy to power overhead lighting, two computers, a printer, and air conditioning. I’m drinking filtered tap-water from a plastic bottle. My husband is at work, and I’m still waiting to start my new job after finishing a second college degree. Tomorrow morning, I’ll probably wake up, shower, put on new shoes, and drive in my car to the church of my choosing. Now I know this doesn’t make me rich and famous and amazing – really, even by Appalachian standards, we’re probably a bit on the poor side at the moment. But I figure that puts me in a better position than a fairly large portion of the world’s population, in some respects. I feel pretty comfortable in my assumption that right now, somewhere in the world (heck, within a two-mile radius of where I sit), there’s a kid who’s trying to go to sleep in old clothes, on a crap bed, without reliable amenities, who didn’t get to eat any dinner because they just couldn’t get it together today. And that kid is probably doing better than thousands of others out there.

And here I am, not doing a thing about it.

So I figure that’s pretty much what everyone sees when they get down on America. And you’re well within your rights to do so. And we probably need a kick in the rear every now and then to try to keep us culturally on track.

But that’s only part of the story. When we get to the 4^th of July, we don’t “celebrate” all our problems. I think it’s more like this: We celebrate the belief that we can make our own choices. We celebrate the belief - the hope - that in the United States of America we have a chance (and a willingness) to make things better.

This brings me to an explanation of some of my posts for the next few days. I’ll be doing a sort-of “tribute” to the USA. Or maybe it’s more like: I’ll be posting a personal journey of mine, as I try to work out my understanding of what it means to be an American. What’s worth fighting for in this country. The things we may have done right.

So, for the next week, let’s talk about America.