U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!
If you are American, you most likely get an adrenaline hearing those three letters. But how excited should those three letters get us? Should we accept them as if they are a war cry or hang our heads in shame? After all, is there not good and bad in everything? Let us examine the case for each side of this red, white, and blue snafu.
The phrase "American values" is thrown around a lot these days, especially with the presidential election coming later this year. If we are going to go all the way back to the founding of the United States of America, this country was based on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This set of principles were (eventually) agreed on by the Founding Fathers of this nation, borrowing some values from European philosophers such as John Locke. This is definitely a great set of values to have when declaring independence from a tyrannical overlord across the Atlantic Ocean, but how far has the pride in these and other American values progressed?
Living in the United States is certainly a privilege. This country has a prosperous history (for the most part), lots of rights for citizens (or so we are led to believe -- this shall be discussed later), and is largely considered one of, if not the greatest country in the world. The country is known to its citizens as a country where people can unite to overcome tragedies.
Just look at some of the recent disasters in this country: the Charleston, South Carolina shooting last June, the Boston Marathon bombing, and the Sandy Hook massacre. All of these events were generally considered terrifying to the American people. The people were able to unite through relief efforts, comforting families and friends of victims, and seeking justice to those who jeopardized communities. This is the America envisioned by the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. This nation is the nation we are proud of.
Unfortunately, there is a bad side to American nationalism. We pledge allegiance to the stars and stripes, but "Old Glory" is not always a symbol of hope and prosperity. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. We claim the country is a land of the free and home of the brave, but for whom? In a nation where systemic oppression runs rampant, mercilessly persecuting those of African decent, paying someone of a different gender and ethnicity less for the same job, and restricting the property of Native Americans to low-quality reservations. The media continues to misappropriate representations of people who are not rich white males, labeling individuals as criminals, rapists, and radicals. Can we claim we are the greatest country in the world if the needs of the nation are decided by leaders of corporations, desperate to drudge into the pockets of citizens and politicians alike? This is only the shortlist of the problems this country faces, and will most likely continue to face unless change is elicited.
I am not saying we should not have pride in our country or that this country sucks. The United States is one of the most powerful and influential countries in the world. I find it baffling how the United States can pour so much money into corporations, prisons, and wars overseas, but still leaves citizens working their lives away in order to feed their families. We claim that this is a nation of social change. Sure, we have come a long way from Puritanical Colonist sensibilities, but we still have a long way to go before we can support the claim "all men are created equal." I mean, in that quote alone you leave out the entire female population! We must take steps to improve our country. We need fewer walls and more bridges.
Next time you see the fifty stars and thirteen stripes and feel a sense of happiness, remember that the feeling arises from the unification of peoples to form one country. With so many social barriers, it is hard to unite so many cultures to form one great nation. In a country where heavy discrimination is prevalent, let us use the values of people seeking a utopian-like nation in order to better the status-quo. After all, a house divided cannot stand. Let us nurture the American spirit by coming together as one.
