JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum John Rich/ Kaepernick

I love America, but for the life of me, I can't understand all this chest beating about being the best country in the world. Maybe it's my more reticent British background, but to me it just seems undignified. The best country in the world doesn't have to go around bragging about it.

There's no objective measurement for "best country." Every country has debits and credits on its ledger. The US has done some wonderful things to be proud of and some pretty unsavory things to come to terms with. Recognizing those things and coming to terms with them doesn't make one unpatriotic. The US gave the world a great example in the Constitution. Despite its many flaws, it's a magnificent thing and has preserved democracy, sometimes defending it from people's worst instincts. The US pretty much saved much of the world from totalitarianism. When there is a humanitarian crisis, the US is usually first on the scene, often reaching out a hand to people in countries whose governments have propped up their dubious legitimacy by peddling anti-US sentiment. You can go some places and hear people blame the US for everything. It's not as common as people in the US seem to think, but when it happens, it's just as bad or worse as the "we're the best" chest beating.

On the debit side, the US wiped out almost an entire race of people. Half of the US fought a war to preserve slavery decades after European governments had outlawed it and, if you had asked most soldiers on the other side if they were fighting to free the slaves, they would have said no. The same nation that produced Abraham Lincoln produced Jefferson Davis and his modern equivalents. Round where I live, there are still traces of Jim Crow sentiment, mostly hidden until recently. That same constitution that has defended freedom has also trapped the US in a time warp where simple fixes to a not very democratic system that lags behind other countries are practically impossible to implement. It's silly to close your eyes to these things. They don't stop me from loving this country warts and all. I choke up when I hear "America the Beautiful" sung. To me it's the most idealistically American song because it urges us all, with God's help, to constantly strive to make this great country ever better

"America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

With apologies to the "love it or leave it" crowd, I'll take my cue from Katherine Lee Bates when it comes to real patriotism and what makes America truly great.