I'm really American. Mixed-blood, Army family, Eagle Scout. One of the First World gifts my parents gave me is a world-class education. A powerful effect of this education is that I have a sense of the influence my country has had on the world in the past 233 years, and especially in the last 60. All politics aside, some of this influence has been life-affirming and some of it has been destructive. This entry is not about that, because the things I really love about America have about zero to do with politics or global influence.
First, I love the multiculturalism. Even as a middle class white boy I grew up with access to all of the world's music at my fingertips, and a bundle of friends and family in many colors, creeds and styles. My parents and teachers made it very clear from early on that to be American was to treat everybody equally, and respect everybody's freedom. My 8th grade teacher and the current principal of St. Vincent de Paul school in San Francisco, Mrs. Harvey, spent a few weeks teaching us comparative religion. She taught us about Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism and Confucianism. We learned about the basic tenets and practices of each tradition, and where around the world people practice them. Though this was a Catholic school (and quite actively so), there was no judgement in this lesson. I guess one of the perils of teaching our children to think critically is taking the risk that they will question and reject the tradition which taught them how to do so. I rejected the classical tradition in which I was raised for a worldview that is both more inclusive and more individualized than that of my childhood. This is about the most American thing I've ever done, and I am happy to live among millions of people who have done the same thing to varying degrees. I believe our intellectual and spiritual diversity is a great strength, and I celebrate that.
Second, I love the people. I love our culture of loud exuberance, of living our lives with gusto. I love that we root for the underdog and embrace the ugly duckling. I love that we produced Tina Fey, Kurt Vonnegut and Oprah Winfrey. Constant, peaceful changes in power are normal for us, from our local hobby group to our national elections. If there is a barbecue, a rock show or a competition of pretty much any sort going on, we'll be there, screaming "YOU SUCK!" at an arbitrarily-chosen opponent. I love that.
Really, though, it's the land. This place - sea to shining sea and all that - never ceases to amaze me with it's natural wonders. We all have parts of this country that we love, pieces of land and natural formations that remind us of the richness of our lives here. We've settled in some of the lushest parts of the world (hello Pacific Northwest) and some of the most inhospitable (hello Great Salt Lake). I've been lucky enough to see some of the more desolate spots in this country, and my best memories are inexorably tied to the land. My personal mental refuge (my "happy place" if you will) is in the American desert, around a campfire with a friend, which is how I know this place must be in my blood.
No matter how well or poorly our government represents me personally, growing up in a democracy means that I know, in the end, that societal and cultural power comes from the people. We're imperfect, we're fickle, we're impressionable. We work hard, play hard and argue about all of it. My one hope is that we continue to embrace multiculturalism and diversity in an active way, and that we begin to really celebrate our role as citizens of the world. In celebration of how far we've already come along that road, I intend to laugh heartily, sing loudly and get sweaty. I'm really American, and I'm pretty cool with that.
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