Not particularly. Being an American is good. You don’t need a visa to go practically anywhere. Plus, we have our own interesting history and things to do. I am, frankly, annoyed with Europhile Americans who complain that we don’t have any history. It simply isn’t true.
Also, we have the most awesome collection of natural wonders in the world. Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Zion, the Giant Sequoias. Can’t beat it.
And it’s big. It’s handy to be from a big country. That way you can totally get really really far away from where you grew up and still be able to live easily without having to learn a new language or worry about work visas. It’s also good that we have multiple large regional capitals. I think it’s a little lame that British people who really want to be in the thick of things have to live in London or go without. Now, London is a really awesome city, maybe it’s cool, but it’s handy that in the US you can still be in the thick of things in a major urban setting in New York or DC or Atlanta or LA or Chicago, among others. You have choices.
I also enjoy that the US is so multi-ethnic. I’ve lived abroad before and it’s not like the places I lived were without diversity, but it didn’t compare.
So, on the whole, I am generally happy to be an American. It isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty good.
No. I would love to live in other countries through my life, and could see myself even settling permanently in another country, but I’m glad I’m Australian, because if I wasn’t my circumstances/experiences/personality would change and I wouldn’t want that.
Broomstick I know a number of American ex-pats that live here and share your point of view. I think many in the US consider Canada to be ‘America Lite’ but I don’t think that’s the case. Also, I’ve heard many from the UK consider Canadians terribly boring; however, I also know tons of UK ex-pats living here so I guess they get used to it.
I’ve always thought I would like to be English; however, that could be because I would like to live in England. I assume if I were actually from there I would think I would like to be Canadian (or American or Dutch or whatever).
I can’t speak for all of Canada, but I lived in Ontario for a year. It’s definitely America Lite! Well, at least until you get into downtown Toronto, then it’s like New York City Lite (in the same respect that New York isn’t representative of my part of the USA, Toronto isn’t representative of most of Ontario).
I didn’t hate Ontario, and I’d go back there for another year here and there, but not to permanently settle. On the other hand, I’ve live (non-continuously) in various parts of Mexico for almost four years, and I could see myself retiring here in a non-expat community on the strength of my US dollar. Having nationality and/or citizenship would have the benefit of allowing me to purchase property near coastal waters, so I guess that’d be a plus.
I wouldn’t mind being a citizen of a tiny country, one of those places that would make people sit up and say “wow, you’re the first person I’ve met that’s a citizen of X”! A european country would be good, an island would be romantic. Something like Malta or Iceland.
Or, if it weren’t an island, San Marino or Monaco.
I kinda wish I was Australian. Part of the Anglosphere, but warmer.
It almost happened; if my grandfather had gone to Australia instead of Saskatchewan, I would be riding the train into Sydney quite happily to this day.
And we’re trying to get past that. Always checking our actions by asking “is this American or New York enough” is one of the things that drives me crazy about Ontario.
We. Are. Ourselves. We don’t need to always compare ourselves to the Yanks; that just regenerates the sense of inferiority. When everyone in Toronto was nervously asking “Are we world class?”, I knew we weren’t. World-class places know who they are and don’t need to mention it.
I was thinking about this the other day, as i often do (unfortunately). I prefer not to waste my time thinking about things I can’t change.
I was raised Italian, and wouldn’t mind having just been born in Sicily or southern Italy, since it’s already my cultural heritage. My mom was born in Belgium but, since she lacks the ethnic pride my dad had when I was growing up, it never much mattered to me. Normally, however, when I day dream about being Anywhere But Here, it’s Australia or England I’m thinking of. I think which is dependent on my mood.
Other possibilities, depending on my mood, are Scotland, Switzerland, Greece, Thailand, Brazil, and a multitude of others. This all depends entirely on what facet of my life I think would be improved by living elsewhere.
Huh? We might not have many quaint thousand-year old customs like some countries do, but the US has a huge cultural influence, and either created or co-created some of the most successful and imitated art forms in the world - including rock music, jazz, cinema, much of television, Broadway… Or did I misunderstand your point?
I appreciate your points, am generally happy enough to be an American, and agree that too many of us are dismissive of the country’s good points. (You know the line in The Mikado about “the idiot who praises with enthusiastic tone / every century but this and every country but his own”?)
But still, I gotta say that being born British seems like some kind of a jackpot and if I’d had a choice I think I’d have been born there. Why? Because it has the best of Europe and the rest of the Anglophone world rolled up into one country. They speak the world’s most important and wide-spread language, are culturally/economically/socially linked to the world’s biggest superpower, have the best higher education system in Europe, the perks and comforts of being in the EU, the military might and political independence you don’t typically associate with the EU, easy ability to work in Commonwealth countries, close proximity and easy access to some amazing travel destinations. Add to that the physical beauty (both natural and architectural), amazing history, interesting culture, modern day relevance, dynamism, diversity, and the fact that it contains what is, IMHO, perhaps the greatest city in the world, and it’s hard to beat.**
So it’s not that I think they’re so much more sophisticated than we are, or that we have no history or culture or whatever…it’s just that when I think about it dispassionately more things stack up in Britain’s favor than in America’s. Maybe not very patriotic, but there it is. (Any British girls looking to marry an American??)
**Yes, I know this is a rosy view. The country is also crowded, ridiculously expensive, classist, and a lot of its citizens share the American tendency to dump excessively on their own country. Also, who knows what things will be like during the coming Age of Austerity. But hey, even counting all that I’d still be happy to be a Brit…
I would never consider Thai citizenship. Naturalized citizens are not allowed to vote for one thing. And you’ll never really be considered Thai by the Thais, no matter how official it may be. The only Westerners who take Thai citizenship – an extremely tortuous process – are businessmen doing it for the fantastic tax breaks afforded local businesses but not foreign ones. Besides them, it’s pretty much migrants from other Third and even Fourth World countries who will still have a better life here despite being treated as a third-class citizen and looked down upon; they make it due to having some sort of religious affiliation, say, with the Muslims in the South, or some other connection; otherwise it’s next to impossible.
I’ve seen a lot of the inferiority complex, and I kind of think that it’s stupid. For one thing, states/regions in the USA are diverse. Michigan isn’t at at like Wyoming and neither of them are like California. Ontario does have a lot more in common with New York state and Michigan, in the same way that Michigan has a lot in common with Ohio. It’s kind of pointless to be feel inferior because you’re similar to your neighbors. Isn’t it enough to make fun of the Newfies?
