Adventures in China

Look at me, I'm a patriot! Really!

Most of the people I interact with place a high value on bitter comments, complaints, and pointing out problems. It is seen as realistic and aware if you can list all the problems with something and you are looked upon with suspicion if you say too many positive things. This, for whatever reason, applies even more harshly when talking about America. All we ever hear about are the problems and all I ever really saw were the problems.

After spending a year in China, I am much more willing to point out the wonderful wonderful things about this country. Am I saying that America is perfect? No. Am I saying America is the best place in the world? No. Am I saying American style democracy is the best and only option? No. But there are some darn good things about this country that I just didn't appreciate before I left it.

America accepts an astounding amount of diversity from racial/ethnical to musical to food to religion to types of cars we drive. That is so great. Of course there is more work to do, but what we have available to us is amazing. We have the ability to reinvent ourselves and our careers. We have charities and non-profit organizations. We have communities that support themselves in various ways. We have all kinds of freedoms and rights, even if we don't use them.

And so, I am a patriot. I'm proud of the number of things we have accomplished, as Americans. I'm proud that we have the opportunity to influence what America becomes. I just hope we can all stop complaining long enough to actually get out there and change it into what we want.