America - 5 Reasons We F’n Rock

“Happily for America, happily, we trust, for the whole human race, they pursued a new and more noble course. They accomplished a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society." - James Madison

The United States of America is worthy of patriotism -- although perhaps not that “my country, right or wrong” brand touted in memes about Bacon Pancakes or Assault Rifles.

But the fact is, no matter where you make marks on the political ruler of conservative to liberal, you’ve got reason to be proud of your country. Before we start tooting our own horn, let’s acknowledge the room’s elephant.

Listen, we know. We know the ends didn’t always come from idealistic or moralistic means. We know it’s a matter of political and ideological perspective. We know it could all be better.

We also know that it’s the fucking Fourth of July, and we’re going to take a moment to celebrate that fact and appreciate the ways in which America Is Awesome.  

#1: A High Standard of Living: According to a 2015 Pew Research study, “On a global scale, the vast majority of Americans are either upper-middle income or high income. And many Americans who are classified as “poor” by the U.S. government would be middle income globally.” In other words, even the worst off Americans are far better off than half the world.

#2: That Social Mobility, American Dream Business: Do we all get yachts and Nobel prizes? No, we do not.  But the possibility, for many of us, is real. Not all our Presidents and Innovators come from money and that speaks volumes.

#3 Speaking of Innovators: We encourage innovation. The best of innovations and innovators can be subjective, but we Americans are clearly kicking it.  Something about our culture sparks new ideas. Seven out of 10 of the world’s greatest innovators of all time, according to StartUpGuide.com anyway, were Americans. And, according to Scientific American, we housed four of the 10 inventors that created of the “10 Greatest Inventions of our Time.” Let’s not forget personal computers and The Internet, not invented by Al Gore, but the prototype came from the U.S. Department of Defense, ARPANET.

#4 Doing Government Right: We like to complain… they take too many days off, filibuster like assholes and hold themselves to a series of separate standards and yet, it seems we still make a couple of lists for being one of the best governed countries in the world. We get specific props for our three branches of government and the system of checks and balances we cleverly built into our governing process to keep all these elected officials in line. Go us.

#5 The Freedoms: Freedom comes in many forms, and we get props for three in particular.

Nice work America!  And if you see an active duty serviceperson or veteran while you’re out grilling hot dogs or watching fireworks, thank them.  Because, as you know...

"Freedom Is Not Free." - Colonel Walter Hitchcock