'Merica!

Voice & Vision | U.S. Politics & Culture

By TLS

‘Merica! Pride! Strength! Determination! Conviction! At least, that is something of what I imagine those who like this term are attempting to voice.

Rolling eyes looking to the sky with hands raised in exasperation, that’s me when I hear the term. To me, ‘Merica, is almost synonymous with short-sightedness, ignorance, narrow-mindedness, closed minded, and even possibly bigotry and hatred.

My perspective could be wrong, but based on the examples of individuals I see proudly and loudly using the term, this does not really move my position. I continue to see a significant lack of openness, mindfulness, or nuanced consideration of our geopolitical, cultural, economic, or social issues from this crowd.

Our country seems to be going through (at least I hope going through) a period that praises ignorance and discourages education. Why? I don’t know. Is this possibly linked? Perhaps it’s social media, or the algorithms driving that sewage. Perhaps it’s the steady decline of the media. Or maybe it’s just the natural ebb and flow or swinging pendulum of life and culture that aimlessly wander’s about.

Whatever the reason, I desperately hope it’s short lived with little or no long-term negative impact on us.

Life is dirty, messy, and difficult. The reason we have so many problems with no or poor solutions is because there usually aren’t any simple or easy solutions. We have 300 plus million people in this country. That means 300 plus million different opinions on how to solve each and every problem.

Now add to that difficulty a decline in quality education coupled with narrow-mindedness and an epic level of short-sightedness. My guess is the outcome of that would look pretty much like what we have today.

How do we solve this? Probably with a great, great deal of cooperation, which is something else we seem to be critically short on lately. But, at least we’ll have 300 plus million opinions. ‘Merica! Hooah!

If we want a better America, we have to start acting like we deserve one. Ask questions. Read more. Listen more. Think harder. Because shouting “‘Merica!” isn’t the same as saving it.

Clip art

<a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/american-cartoon-celebrating-independence-day_834418.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=0&uuid=b53205ec-7aab-4ca2-87f7-2800c8cabaaf">Image by alekksall on Freepik</a>