https://i.imgur.com/TRnOSnr_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium
If you love America, what pictures or thoughts do you have?
For me my country isn’t perfect, in a way that no country is, but it is beautiful and defines a unique spirit for us as Americans. Freedom and independence that endures.
This is not a thread to knock America but to celebrate what makes America great and what you love about it.
We aren’t perfect. But we live in society where we can address our imperfections. The founding fathers didn’t ban racism, sexism, or put the ADA into the Constitution, etc. But they improved upon the systems of government that existed at the time.
And we continue to improve. Maybe not fast enough for some people. But we have improved over time.
Sometimes I don’t think people appreciate that as much as they should.
Also this.
We are still here.
We over-reacted to a great extent, and in the backlash some have forgotten what we are about as a nation in favor partisan politics, but we will recover.
I agree.
God, if you’re out there, bless America, and everywhere else too.
President Bush’s statement to the American people later that evening.
Were it up to me, I’d toss The Star-Spangled Banner and give our national anthem to Woody Guthrie. It’s a shame that most people only know the chorus because it’s all they teach you to sing in kindergarten.
Warning: NSFW
Excellent point. As I reread the lyrics I remembered some but not all of them. Here they are, from woodyguthrie.org —
This Land Is Your Land
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
© Copyright 1956 (renewed), 1958 (renewed), 1970 and 1972 by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island,
*From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters; *
This land was made for you and me.
*As I was walking that ribbon of highway *
*I saw above me that endless skyway; *
*I saw below me that golden valley; *
This land was made for you and me.
*I’ve roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps *
*To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts; *
And all around me a voice was sounding;
This land was made for you and me.
*When the sun came shining, and I was strolling, *
*And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling, *
*As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting: *
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking I saw a sign there,
*And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.” *
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing.
That side was made for you and me.
*In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people, *
*By the relief office I seen my people; *
*As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking *
Is this land made for you and me?
*Nobody living can ever stop me, *
*As I go walking that freedom highway; *
*Nobody living can ever make me turn back *
This land was made for you and me.
The Wilderness Act of 1964, signed into law by LBJ, is another reason I love America. I’ve heard it said that it is the first law in the world passed by any country to protect its wilderness lands (not sure if that is true or not). In many good ways, we lead the world in how to be better.
How many verses should be sung at gatherings?
If not all of them, then which ones?
Americans with Disabilities Act.
Our national parks are pretty good, too.
Is this an article of faith? It’s hard to tell if ignorance and hatred are at a higher level than they have been in the past, or decency and common sense at a lower level, but that’s the way it seems to me, looking back over the past 70 years or so. Maybe this is all pangs towards the birth of a better version of our country. I certainly hope so.