Daryl wrote: Ones that affect how a nation views itself with respect to the world are more consequential. It always amazes me as an outsider that a people need to repeat "we are number one", and fetishise their own symbols so much.
I think every national culture does this to an extent. It may not involve a flag, but I think most people take at least some level of pride in their homeland. Generally in my experience, most people believe they are number one. True humility is in short supply the world over.
As for me, I think there are things America could learn from other countries. As for what we're "number one" on, is a matter of statistics on one hand, and sentiment on the other.
The U.S. has plenty of things to be proud of and ashamed of. But in all fairness, lots of nations fall in the same category. We've made some mistakes, but such is the cost of experimentation.
Daryl wrote:It also amazes me that this seems in tandem with a deep insecurity. I've never heard anyone else worry so much about threats to their country's very existence, with less reason to do so. This seems by design, hailing from a time when the threat of European powers undoing the revolution was more real. I've read where it was actually only about 25% of America that was behind independence, but that 25% cared deeply whilst most others were kind of on the fence. Creating a founding mythology of a thing SO precious and SO in need of defence, was a strategically sound move at that time. American exceptionalism served a purpose then, but now it seems quaint and odd, and sometimes dangerous to both the world and America's own interests. Being ready willing and able to serve in military adventures like Viet Nam and Iraq, is, I think, a sign that the America fetish has some serious downsides. I would go so far as to say that it makes for both an undue sense of insecurity as well as an undue sense of invulnerability.
There is sound psychology in this, but I think the comment might be unfairly generalizing the American populace. One look at our politics proves that we generally don't agree on much. The "star spangled patriotism" we are speaking of really isn't as common as outsiders might think. I think most Americans are just too busy trying to survive to bother with it.
Ideally the flag should stand for diversity. Our former defacto motto "E Pluribus unum" demonstrates this message. It translates to "out of one, many", and is the primary reason I reject the current motto. Not for any gripe with religion, but that the motto only represents a certain class and culture, and that culture can be pretty damned obnoxious about it.
But make no mistake, most Americans know we aren't the best in the world at everything. We do have a certain level of pride and I think that's okay. It's only the ultra obnoxious that dominate our airwaves. As my folks often say "just because you've seen it on TV, doesn't make it true."
I've covered a lot of ground in my life, been through big cities and small towns and interacted with thousands on top of thousands of people. I've never seen someone get shot, never witnessed a riot, a large protest, a lynching, and only very few scuffles. I only recently shook hands with a senator, and that was a first.
98% of this land just isn't represented in our media. I'll ask our neighbors abroad to please don't judge us by that. Look at the diverse opinions on the matter right here on this forum....
