As a kid, I grew up with a deep, bordering on irrational love of my country. Everywhere I went I carried the Constitution around as if it was a Bible. I took the words of the founding fathers as gospel, eager to follow in the footsteps of George. I even read the flag code to make sure I never disrespected such an important symbol of freedom and prosperity.
But in the past few years, the love I had started to wane. That’s in part because I’ve been living in the liberal bastion of New York City. In NYC, and especially in my generation, anti-American sentiment seems to be the norm. For the modern left that populates New York, America is synonymous with slavery, with centuries of oppression, with the evils of Capitalism, and so on.
And in many ways, they are right. No one in their right mind could deny the many, many failings of America. It took a bloody Civil War in which hundreds of thousands of people died to end slavery. For decades after the war, we continued to legalize racism and oppression well into the 20th century. And our mistakes are no less rampant today—bundled wars in the Middle East, drone strikes on innocent civilians, a grossly inadequate educational system. There is simply no denying that in many ways, America has failed to live up to the standard it set for itself.
And yet, I still can’t seem to let go of this idea, this belief in American exceptionalism. That there is something about us that is unique, special, capable of incredible things. And we have done incredible things. Our victory against a colonial power inspired people throughout the world. Our form of government was revolutionary and radically egalitarian for the time. Our commitment to science led us produce countless innovations that have improved millions of lives. And our military helped bring an end to not one but two world wars.
But this is of course just the flip side of the anti-American argument, also refusing to take into account the whole picture. Americans over the centuries have done a great many things, both good and bad. We are a country, like any other, comprised of people, and people are fallible. We make mistakes.
I don’t love my country because it’s perfect. I love my country because it’s my home, because I believe in the values enshrined in our founding documents, and because I believe that however short of those values we may fall, we will always strive to be better, to do better, and to build a better tomorrow for everyone.
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Happy 4th of July Eve, folks! Video version of this will be posted on YT tomorrow. Hope y'all have a great holiday.
Cheers,
Gray
