Can you be patritotic and a global citizen at the same time?

Each year when the 4th of July rolls around I have a little mental dilemma.  Can I consider myself a citizen of the planet and still be all "USA! USA!"? 

I like living here in the US.  I like it even better now that we seem to have a Commander and Chief that has something resembling integrity, and I know lots of precious lives were given to keep this country free. But honestly, I've never lived anywhere else....who am I to judge?  Canada seems nice.  Norway, Scotland, Italy....lovely places to name just a few.  Could be that life there is fabulous.  And here's the thing; if you go around acting like you're better than every one else it ticks folks off.  It's like high school when the cheerleaders and the football players walk down the hall acting like they own the place and all the *normal* people get a little angry. "Here comes *those* people again."  Doesn't do much to contribute to any sort of peaceful atmosphere.  The location of your birth doesn't really make you anything special, does it?  It's simply the place you were born.  Not like you had much choice. 

So here I am, little Miss Keep the Peace and I'm thinking that maybe if we all considered ourselves to be living together on the same blue planet and not separated by borders that we might have a better chance at living on this planet without trying to kill each other.  Maybe there ought to be a day when we open our windows and shout "EARTH! EARTH!" and then set about taking better care of her and each other. 

It's a rainy 4th of July this year and in the city I live it is quite literally raining on the parade.  Maybe one day a year to show some USA pride isn't such a bad thing and I hope not to many people are waving soggy flags.  I only wish that while we are celebrating the freedom of our great country we remember that we are just one number in the equation of this world and while it's a big number, we are only as grand as our hearts and hands make us. 

Comments

[wenders]

I think there is a very fine line between being proud and being proudful. I lived in Ireland, and the Irish are proud of being Irish, but they aren't proud because they think the Irish are BETTER than EVERYONE else (in my experience). Italians may think there's no other place they'd rather live, but they focus on living there instead of making everywhere else just like Italy.

I like that I live in a country that has diversity and variety of people, beliefs, food, geography, weather, accents... the list goes on and on. I like that I live in a country where "being American" has as many meanings as there are people - there is not ONE definition of America.

Maybe it's some common ideals vs. a definition in my mind...'being American' does include a degree of personal freedom not found almost anywhere else. You could actually move, change your name and change your life without leaving the country. Where else could you do that?

I could go on and on, but I think it's the gray space between pride and Pride that makes me most nervous. I'm proud to be American, but not always Proud of America. Gosh, I ramble... anyway...