A Lady of Reason

What Makes America Great?

Believe it or not, at one point I was far more critical of America than I am now. I used to think that many were too nationalistic, to the point of arrogance and blindness towards other great nations. I felt that many did not allow one to question or critique this country without jumping to conclusions that you were anti-American for speaking up to raise important issues needing fixing. Also, that purely blind patriotism is just as wrong as blind hatred without looking at the facts impartially. I still feel that we shouldn’t put America on a pedestal so high it’s immune from any valid critique and change. I still feel patriotism should be earned, not just given blindly to any nation, and that we are one of many great nations who are our peers as world leaders.

However, I have gained far more respect for America and am far more apt to defend America’s good name once I opened my eyes to just how virulent the America-haters were! No, we are certainly not perfect, but we aren’t an evil regime of oppression, as some like to think nowadays! I’m certain plenty on the Left celebrate the 4th of July like you and I do, and think they’re being “patriotic”, but the things the Left thinks about this country are some of the most hateful and bitter sentiments I’ve heard about America from fellow Americans. It’s one thing to be in some enemy country and chant “death to America!”, but it’s another to be in this country reaping in all the privileges that come with it and crying “Oppression! America is evil and immoral!”. Among their complaints:

America doesn’t give enough welfare and government assistance…

America is deeply racist…

America is sexist and supports rape culture…

America oppressed the 3rd world with its imperialist policies…

America owes reparations for slavery…

You can’t succeed unless you’re in the top 1% because America’s economy/job market is flawed…

America is too consumerist…

Even: America asked for 9/11 because of its foreign policy!

And that list is not nearly exhaustive in the litany of complaints the Left likes to whine about our country… Now is America perfect? There’s nothing we need to improve? There’s nothing in our past we should regret? No, certainly not! However, compared to plenty of other countries, we are light years ahead in terms of political freedom, civil rights, and social equality not to mention quality of life for our citizens. We have many flaws that need fixing, but even with those flaws, we’re better off than the majority of the world! So what does make America great?

What about our higher standards of living? Our top hospitals to treat all sorts of issues. Our lower infant mortality rate and safer childbirth. Our vaccines to prevent disease and the fact many diseases that are easily treatable here are fatal in the 3rd world. Our technologies that make it possible to have clean drinking water, safer food, better housing, better roads, better infrastructure. This isn’t merely about whether or not there’s a McDonald’s around the block, or how many can have a flat screen TV and the latest gizmos!

Unlike some like to argue, or pretend to argue, that we’re being presumptuous to think the world needs to live like us in a consumer capitalist society, I’m talking about basic needs, NOT whatever someone wants on a whim! America is great not because of how much junk we have in our living rooms, but because we HAVE a living room to live in, hospitals to go to if we’re sick or injured, children that will actually live to adulthood etc..etc… No, not everyone has to live like we do, but everyone does need food, water and shelter which America does provide far better than most of the world! In addition to the other long list of so called “rights”, a.k.a entitlements, the Left demands must be handed to us!

Or what about our great economy and opportunities to advance in life? No, we’re not a utopia by any means, but the “American Dream” still exists for countless Americans. Is everyone going to get their dream job and their dream house simply by working hard? No. But hard work does reap real rewards in this country in ways it will not in others. The rigid class system of England, or India for examples does not exist here. The system of Russian serfdom and contemporary debt bondage is illegal here. Is there still extreme poverty and inequality here? Sadly, yes. But poor choices lead to poor luck as much if not more than our systematic flaws.

The stories of past immigrants succeeding in the middle class or better from nothing show the extraordinary opportunities America brought in a time where you were often defined by class and things beyond your control in countless other countries, even in ones we’d consider 1st world today but were essentially 3rd world back then. The recent waves of immigrants and “refugees” don’t flee here for no reason. Mexico has opened its borders to immigrants from Central America yet they refused their hospitality and ran to us to beg for our charity. After all, who said “beggars can’t be choosers?” 😉 No one is forcing them to choose America, they could go elsewhere too, especially if on a whole different continent to a much more convenient asylum than across the Atlantic! Yet here they come…

Standards of living and socio-economic advancement are two major examples of many that make America great! The last point I want to make though, is in regards to a more subjective area: Ethics and morality. The Left claims America is immoral on many many counts. We’re racist, sexist, bigoted, fascist, greedy, paternalistic, imperialist, etc..etc… It’s true we did things in our past that we’re not proud of, but whenever the majority of these insinuations come up about America’s character, they’re from past historical instances! Well, what about right now? Just because we were paternalistic and imperialist 100 years ago, does that mean we think the same way now? Just because we did racist things like Jim Crow and slavery in the past, are they still in effect now? Even for modern-day accusations such as modern day inequalities, why not take a look at what other countries have done then come back and whine “oppression!”. Ever heard of 1st world problems? 😉 The utter hypocrisy in which America is attacked while other countries get off for far worse offenses is astounding!

Women have to pay a tax on tampons and have special pink items that cost more.

Gay people aren’t the star of every TV show.

Transgender people or gender fluid people aren’t addressed by their pronoun.

Band aids, and crayons are “racist” for not having your skin tone.

Meanwhile in the 3rd world…

Women are subject to honor killings, acid attacks, FGM, wed as prepubescent children, and are the literal property of men.

Gay people are brutally executed in many regimes and subject to far more violence than in America.

Ethnic and racial minorities are subject to mass killings, genocide, slavery, and outcast from society.

Yet the feminists never talk about how women are enslaved by men in the 3rd world, instead whining about the “war on women” for a tampon tax, or “rape culture” for a butt grab when girls are being raped by their husbands at age 10 in the Middle East. The gay advocates whine instead about Trump telling these countries to STOP killing gays because it’s “racist” or about a straight pride parade while ignoring the gays being executed abroad. As well as civil rights leaders decrying not enough “diversity” here when mass genocides by foreign governments happen to ethnic and racial minorities abroad while people of color in America are in top positions including the former presidency for two consecutive terms. Then of course, the West is bad no matter what, even despite far worse offenses by non-Western cultures!  Pure and utter hypocrisy and double standards…

America is a nation of equality and democracy, who, in light of its flaws strives to change them. It’s a nation of good healthcare, cutting edge technology, a good economy where we are the world’s top 10%, opportunity for socio-economic growth, great infrastructure, fair laws, and governed with the people, not just a dictator. It’s no utopia, but also no tyrannical regime. It’s a place where people flee to for safety and a better life. A place where I can work hard and earn a better life. A place I can be proud to live in and be a part of.

Honestly, I think the REAL American flaw is the fact we let everyone else walk all over us!!!

Image result for ben garrison patriotism cartoon

14 comments

  1. From my foreign (Spanish) perspective I would say that the problem with American patriotism/nationalism is that, unlike other nations, you do not just claim that you are great, but also that you are morally superior.

    That last element is perfectly clear during American history, from the Manifest Destiny idea until today.

    Note how the Russians or the Chinese, to put two examples of foreign powers, are extremely proud of their history and roots, but they do not pretend to be standard bearers of morality towards other peoples. They want their sphere of interests acknowledged, yet do not expect other countries to adopt their systems of goverment or moral values.

    That is why America will always be held to a higher stardard of criticism: you yourselves have set it up since John Winthrop said as far back as 1630 that the new community would be ‘as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us’.

    The first two paragraphs of this article also make a good point about the existance of a double standard in American media sometimes:

    https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/07/how-anti-russian-propaganda-works

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  4. It is normal when we’re younger to question the status quo and the establishment from anything and everything from religion, to politics, to the current culture, etc…then we mature and gain some foresight from hindsight + insight. There’s a bible verse that speaks of this; “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
    That idealism that’s part of our make-up in our youth lends us the necessity to think through and sort through the world around us in order to survive and to thrive.
    These madmen and madwomen on the left have stagnated somehow in their emotional growth without rhyme or reason. No moral compass, never mind it pointing perpetually south, it doth spin out of control like a board game spinner when you don’t like where the pointer lands.
    They’re lying about how good we got it here for no other reason than to manipulate absolute truths for their own agendas and self-serving reasons. Sickening and horrifying!

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  5. Speaking as an outsider…

    “I used to think that many were too nationalistic, to the point of arrogance and blindness towards other great nations.”

    This stereotype is very much how I was taught to view the US. Not that anyone sat down and said “this is what Americans are like”, but rather as something that was just sort of absorbed through passing comments, jokes and what we saw on TV. For Canadians, that sort of in-your-face pride of country was viewed as a negative. It was rude and uncouth. Our quiet pride of country was considered more dignified, for lack of a better word. *L* Interestingly, my own parents and their friends who also came from Poland after WWII were very much flag-waving Polish patriots *and* flag-waving Canadian patriots. I remember, as a kid, thinking that we Canadians could do with a bit more flag waving!

    I think that is part of what turned people off with the loud, brash US patriotism. It wasn’t so much as people were showing pride in being American, as being insulting to every other country in the world at the same time. A sort of “US is the best – and every other country sucks in comparison”. Over the years, I learned to appreciate the US more, as I learned more about it. I’m now in this weird position where I find myself defending the US from American bashing Canadians – and Canada from Americans, who don’t actually know what Canada is like, but think they do (no. We are NOT a socialist country).

    The US has much to be proud of, and I wish you all a very happy Independence Day!

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  6. “Purely blind patriotism ” is at minimum the ingrained America Spirit. This American Spirit is what many died to create in us. Its not blind. For some they sports shades, but they see it lives. Spark it and you’ll feel the burn of a fire known as the American Spirit.

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  7. The current situation at our southern border illustrates the leftist lie which is that this nation is so bad in all the ways you point out in this great post.
    Why else would all those people be willing to do most anything to get here? The offer of all the “free” stuff once they are here is the incentive for the long journey. Along with the support of the leftists organizations forming up the invader caravans in their home countries, promising them all sorts of wonderful things once they arrive at our border. Are they told of the dangers of making the journey? I think not.
    We are still the greatest nation on the face of the planet in the ways that are improtant. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness still prevail. For now. If the leftist get their way, there will become here and they will have made the journey for nothing.
    The immigration laws need to be changed to reflect reality. Walking across our border and expecting to be made a citizen, with all that it entails, does not make any sense. This will be the petard upon which the left will die, hopefully. And soon.
    The current crop of canidates for the oval office are making it abundantly clear that they are not patriots nor in favor of the continuation of this great nation as founded. That should be enough to keep them out of the office of President and other elected positions in the future. The problem is that there are so many who seem to lack common sense, logic and rational thought in our population that they can’t see the forest for the trees, and what the end result will be if the left is given free reign in our government.
    Glad I am in my “golden years” and will not have to witness, for long, the demise of this great nation should that occur.
    Meanwhile, I will do what I can to keep the leftist wolves from destroying what is the greatest nation ever founded by man.
    Thanks for the platform, Lady.

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