I live in the USA and I like it. I like many things about it – it’s vast and diverse landscape for example. The ocean in Maine and mountains in Colorado are wonderful. I like some of our history. some of it.
I also like many other countries. I really like the UK, where we used to live and my daughter still does. I like Australia, where we also had the good fortune to live. I really like New Zealand. I like Thailand. I like the Netherlands. There are many more countries that I really like, and many that I have yet to visit and enjoy.
I love my family, and I love my closest friends. I love our dogs. These are the things I really love. I don’t know that my country is so much better or worse than many others. I know that its better in many ways, such as the general standard of living, but in many other ways it’s not something to love. We don’t take care of our poor, we don’t provide health care easily. I think our current President is a corrupt and awful man. Millions of people in my country thought he was the best choice to be our leader. twice. That is not something I am proud of. I am even less proud of our history treating the native americans who were here when the original settlers arrived, or the selfish people who brought millions of black africans across the sea to die or live in slavery. I know that there are terrible aspects to the history of many other countries and that the USA is not unique in that regard, but we are not excluded from those historical embarassments.
I like my country and I enjoy living here. I don’t feel the crazy, over the top “love” that many profess. The things I love are many but the boundaries of this political part of the earth don’t capture my love. If you told me that we HAD to leave, i could live with that. I could like living in Canada or England, or Holland, I am quite sure.
Happy Independence Day. July 4th is always fun, because we celebrate the anniversary of our independence. It’s just fun – parades, fireworks, but most of all, it’s an excuse for my kids to come visit us. That’s what I truly love