I have a confession to make.  I really like America.

I know, I know… it is so uncool these days.  Hear me out first!  I certainly don’t agree with everything my government does, but the more I travel in the US and the more people I meet in all different places and phases of life the more I think that, actually, America is beautiful and full of really amazing things and remarkable people.

After my stint in SD I’ve been thinking a lot about my own political and national identity.  Sometimes, especially in the educated and well-traveled world of graduate school and big-city life, it feels like really loving Americana and the whole “American thing” (jeans, hot dogs, cruddy beer, support for civil liberty, and the celebration of an independent spirit) isn’t acceptable, as if the only way to properly love Americana is a kind of self-defensive irony.

I don’t enjoy Civil War reenactments ironically; I genuinely enjoy road trips and park rangers; I love funnel cakes and candy apples; I think ferris wheels are truly beautiful; I like wheat fields and prairies; rock and roll always wakes me up; and I kind of think that (gasp) our flag is pretty.  Not that I would ever run around with flag pins or anything.  In school last semester we spent a lot of time talking about the negative impacts of nationalism but failed, I think, to address the positive sensations that come from a sense of shared purpose and common culture.

I believe that there must be some way to redefine patriotism to include all this– shared culture, icons, etc– because when I think of America I’m thinking of places like the Sioux Empire Fair; the National Mall early on Sunday mornings; New York’s skyline (before or after 9-11); the guy who looks you in the eye, asks you how you’re doing and waits for an answer; 1965 Mustangs; photos of the Civil Rights movement; and the “spirit” that makes all these things into a coherent whole.  At the same time, I’m quite emphatically not imagining the president or military, Congress or the police force.

A sense of national belonging motivates people to do good.  After 9-11 I remember people saying “we’re all New Yorkers” but I think it really just meant that, even if you’re out in a bright red state those people in NY are your friends/family/coworkers/fellow-man so donate blood, send money to the Red Cross, stop and ask someone how their day went.  I saw it after Katrina too and, I’d like to believe, that part of the motivation people get involved in politics on a local level is a belief in American process.  I know it is a lot more messy that that, but I need to believe that.  I do believe that.

This all came up because, a few days ago, I found this video while poking around on the Huffington Post and it actually made me tear up.  This from a girl who, just a few short months ago, was all like, “blah blah blah this Obama art is sooooo overdone.”

Maybe it is just all the beautiful ads running during the Olympics (I am quite susceptible to the sports and/or politics as human triumph line of reasoning).  So, while I am praising Americana I am also fascinated by other places too.  Perhaps the problem is that a love for Americana has, for far too long, implied some kind of value judgment.

This entry got awfully long!  Maybe I’m just feeling hopeful for the first time in a long, long time and don’t quite know what that feels like…