Yeah maybe a day late on this one but here it is. I was asked a question by reader R3 yesterday which made me think. I answered him but I’m quite sure I was wrong in my response.
Yesterday was Independence Day as most of you know. I celebrated in the traditional ways with a parade:
And fireworks:
After the celebration concluded I received a R3 text asking me if travel abroad made me less patriotic. Of course I replied it did not. But it does make me less America centric. Meaning I am more aware of world issues now and not just local ones.
If you have followed my blog this past year, you know my disdain for the media here. It is so USA focused and biased I just can’t stand it. It’s all about us. But there is a lot of real news in the world. Suffering and oppression abound throughout the world but we are stuck with hearing about how senile Biden is or how corrupt Trump. After day 30 that’s not news anymore.
Having seen the real burdens of the world I can’t help but see how trivial our issues are. I’m reminded of the Humphrey Bogart line in Casablanca, “I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that.”
That’s how I feel when I see the news. The trivial issues of the 3.5 million people here don’t matter in a world of 7 billion with real problems.
If you follow my blog, you’ll know I’m not one of those apologetic Americans, though. I have defended America when on a tour bus in Vietnam when the guide spewed anti American sentiment.
In South Korea I corrected a tour guide who I felt irresponsibly bashed America in that conflict in the Unapologetic American Post:
Yeah, I’m patriotic. But am I less than I used to be? Well I think I answered R3 wrong. Maybe I am. By being more aware of global issues it does dilute my perception of the USA. Not to the point I will ever be ashamed of my country as many self-loathers are. I would never pull a “Dixie Chicks “ move.
But I do realize the more trivial nature of our “problems” here. In that way I hold our dominant world position in less prominence than before I traveled. Maybe that makes me a bit less patriotic? I don’t know.
What I do now is I detest our media. All of it. It’s all biased trash. Both Liberal and Conservative. It’s all spin and trash. Everyone pushing their agenda and not conscious of a world in true need.
With everything that is going on in the world right now and it being an election year and the two people we have to choose from I am not in a very good space when it comes talking about the world we are living in but I know one thing, I will always respect our country and the people that help protect it. I am just worried about the next president and how he will do protecting our democracy. 🤔
I am just happy that I live in a free country. Not that I am very patriot but I do respect the flag taking off my hat and putting my hand over my heart. I do respect our veterans that have done what they have done for our country to keep us free