When did decency become un-American?

Adirondack Musing had an interesting essay entitled America: the greatest country in the world. Here's my rant about it...

Around here, I've seen more than a few bumper stickers on pickup trucks that read 'The Power of Pride.' And it's spot on. Pride is a very powerful thing. Pride is necessary for healthy development. You can't do much good without a little self-belief. But pride also goeth before the fall. Excessive pride leads to downfall.

For the most part, the people most likely to brag loudly about the US being the best country in the world are the people least likely to have actually been to other parts of the world... and thus actually informed enough to make the comparison.

I have been to other parts of the world. And whether the US is the #1 or #2 or #7, it's certainly near the top. There are a few other countries I could see myself living in but not very many.

And one of the reasons it's near the top is because patriotic citizens are constantly trying to make it better, to fix its flaws. The real patriots, not the fakes who think that wearing a lapel pin or putting a flag on their porch absolves them from actually DOING SOMETHING to make their country better. Not the egomaniacs who think the country is perfect or that being great means standing pat. Not those who confuse empty symbolism with real patriotism.

Patriotism means love of country. In any love affair, symoblism is useful in small doses. People give their significant others flowers from time to time. But the key here is time to time. Any gesture is rendered meaningless if it's overdone. If it's too common, how can it be special? Don't you think something like the national anthem is demeaned by being played before things as ultimately trivial as boxing matches and rodeos? Isn't it a bit insulting to ask something as holy as 'God Bless America' in between loud, drunken tirades about how the Red Sox suck?

A love affair can not be solely based on these symbolic gestures. A fundamentally broken relationship will not be solved with a romantic dinner. Love affairs take hard work, not just fancy words and nice symbolism. Love of country is no different.

The Founding Fathers of this country knew that the US wasn't perfect and never would be. But they also knew that making and keeping it great required the constant commitment of people trying to make it better, of never being complacent. That's why the Constitution's preamble doesn't begin "in order to form a perfect union" but rather "...a MORE perfect union."

I love my country. I don't say it that often because to me, it seems implied. I am engaged in my community via socially useful (hopefully) volunteerism. I am engaged with it via politics.

But most tellingly, I think it's implied because I choose to live here. Although I think I could get an EU passport via my grandparents and could probably get a work visa for Canada, I choose to live in the United States. I choose to live here because it's my home. I choose to live here not by default, but because I want to live here.

I don't say I love my country that often because it seems braggart. It seems unnecessary. I prefer to let my actions speak for themselves.

Some people are so insecure that they need everyone else in the world to shout how great America is. I don't. My belief in this country's potential is not going to be shattered because someone in Paris or Damascus says meanie things about the US of A.

The biggest reason for anti-Americanism is not because the US is a great country. They don't 'hate us because we're free,' as the self-delusional myth goes, no matter who 'they' is. They hate our government's policies... as do many Americans, of course. They hate our arrogance. They hate our meddling in other countries' affairs.

And that's not even getting into the massive hypocrisies involved in US foreign policy and the so-called war on terror. The anger at these hypocrisies illustrate that far from rejecting American values, many people around the world EMBRACE our values so much that they get angry when Americans and our government turn our backs on what we claim are our core values.

For far too many Americans, it's not good enough to think that we're the best country in the world. We're not content with that belief. We have to be universally canonized for that greatness. We have to rub people's noses in it. We have to break our arms patting ourselves on the back. Thanks is never good enough. We demand other people get on their knees and lavish regal praise on our benificence. And if they dare question a single policy decision made by our government, they are thrown in the trash bin with the other cheese eaters.

I don't know what it's like in sainted 'Middle America' but people here in upstate New York are not crude, brash, in your face, chest thumpers. I was taught to have pride in myself and my actions, but in a quiet, decent way. I was taught that I should let actions speak louder than words. I was taught that a good deed is its own reward. I was taught to be humble, not arrogant. I was taught that you treat people decently not because of some expectation of future, perpetual subservience but because it was the right thing to do. I was taught that you treat people decently because the whole functioning of society is dependent on civility.

When did these become un-American values?