I was talking to one of my friends and he mentioned staying home on July 4, citing how there are a lot of really ugly things going on in the US.
After thinking about this myself, I’m starting to feel the same way. Instead of being proud of the country, I’m feeling like I’m just another wallet that companies and the government are trying to suck all the money out of.
The cost of living is going up, the housing market is a nightmare, I don’t feel very confident in our government at all, the job market is a nightmare…
I think I’ll be staying home this year too… anyone else?
Just to remember: I’m German myself. I didn’t say they are nazis, I said “Sounds like some nazi stuff, at least that would be my first impression if someone did it here”. I don’t want to implement Godwin’s Law in this constructive discussion. In my opinion it sounds like nazi stuff, because a lot of German nazis I know love to fantasize about their “Germanic roots”. That’s my first impression while I don’t have much detail what you are referring to, since I never experienced such a celebration myself.
Could you understand my position better by what I wrote aside from that stuff about Garmanic celebrations? Because I would like to better understand the US-American view on patriotism while explaining my own.
I could substitute some other examples but the two most recent events I had attended were those two nationalities / heritage. In the past, it’s been Portuguese, Polish, French, Irish and probably a few more I’ve forgotten.
I think if you want to understand the American view on patriotism, just have a giant crowd of people who rarely, if ever, leave their country, speak only English, are fed propaganda that their country is the best in all areas, has massive problems with education, and then you have the American public.
If you are told your country is the best, are very incurious and are fed propaganda, you will love your country unconditionally. I don’t want to give you the impression that everyone in the country is brainwashed, I’m just trying to convey that at least a percentage of our population honestly believes they live in the best country in the world.
Don’t get me wrong, the USA is still highly developed and has its strengths, but if you look at some (what I believe to be) important statistics like, life expectancy, literacy rate, happiness index, internet speed, press freedom, we sure as hell aren’t #1, but we aren’t in last place either.
It’s been sad to watch science come under increasing criticism instead of developing positively. Just today, a new budget was proposed for the federal government that makes sweeping cuts to quite a few organizations, like the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA (our space agency), and most importantly, the National Science Foundation.
The one thing that I feel good about is even if we drop the ball here in the USA, other countries won’t stand still and will continue to fund and pursue science, technology and education.
The reasons above is why I find it hard to be excited and wave an American flag around on the 4th. Things could be worse but they could be a hell of a lot better too.