Why I Adore America
Let's start with the definition of Adore from the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary:
Function: transitive verb, Inflected Form(s): adored; ador·ing, Etymology: Middle English adouren, from Middle French adorer, from Latin adorare, from ad- + orare to speak, pray. Date: 14th century, 1 : to worship or honor as a deity or as divine, 2 : to regard with loving admiration and devotion <adored his daughter, 3 : to be extremely fond of <adores pecan pie.Today is December 25, 2003. What got me thinking about adding this was a conversation I had with one of my patients last night as I worked. She was feeling depressed after watching a televised "news" show that did nothing but deflate her image of America. She said there were times she felt ashamed to be an American. So I gave her a pep talk about this awesome country. I reminded her about the unique things this country has done that has never happened before in the history of civilization. She thanked me and said she felt better. Sometimes being a nurse involves just showing folks like her a positive aspect.
Today it occurred to me that I should talk about that here too. It will likely be added to from time to time as new things come to mind, but this is a start.
I adore America. I knew this as a child, sensed it, could feel it pulsing vigorously in my psyche. I began reading very early and was reading whole books in a day by the time I was in 3rd grade. By the fourth grade I had to get permission to read from the high school section of the library because I'd read everything of interest in the offerings for elementary. The world became my home, the authors became my mentors, living and dead alike. What I came to understand that America is not just a great country. America is not just the greatest country that civilization ever produced. It was a complete diversion from anything that had ever existed before: a mutation, a new species in the manner of Darwin's descriptions in Origen of Species. It was not a monarchy, a dictatorship, a commune, a fascism or anything else that history had tried.
America's foundation was based on Liberty and Freedom, the rule of Law, and God. It enjoyed a unique governing system of checks and balances. It exalted the free market and was a place where a common man could become wealthy and influential with the strength within his mind and hands.
It is the only country in history to vanquish foes then help them rebuild into free countries, such as we are currently attempting to do in Iraq. It is the only country in history to drop food from the skies (along with radios) to starving refugees fleeing a despotic govenment as the United States sought Afghanistan's freedom.
America is not a land of conquest and destruction. We only have gone to war after being attacked. Our history is that we go in, attack our adversaries then withdraw after repairing the damage done to the innocent civilian population's infrastructure. The only variants on this have been when Demoncraps have chosen wars stupidly. Viet Nam, Haiti, Somalia are examples; all failures, all started by control freak, power-happy, STUPID, DEMOCRAPS. America's Democrats today are nothing at all like the Democrats of my parent's time. Today's Democraps are only seeking power and they have absolutely no scruples about how they get it as detailed throughout the rest of this website. Republican'ts on the other hand have forgotten that big government equals socialism and can't stop trying to out-Democrap the Democraps.
America is populated by every race on earth with each having exactly the same rights, privileges and duties, regardless of their standing in society. The United States accepts more immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.
There are no walls to keep its citizens from migrating to other countries, they are welcome to leave if they wish, such as occurred during the Viet Nam war as young men avoided the draft by becoming Canadian citizens. Once the war was over they chose, if they wished, to return and apply for US citizenship again. They were not exiled in disgrace until they died such as Napoleon endured.
It is a land of abundance. Each person can produce as much or as little as he wishes. This freedom to set your own sails has our store shelves overflowing with the goods that make America a leader in providing its citizens what they need to thrive.
America is the only country on Earth where the poor's biggest health problem is obesity.
And what health consumers complain about is the stuff of miracles in another age! In the time of our grandparents people on average lived only a little more than half our expected life spans. People can grow old and not be put on an iceberg to float into the fog of death. Most elders stay active and mentally sound throughout their entire lives! Nothing is perfect but there is no denying that our medical system produces things only dreamt of before. And the great bulk of the world's greatest health advances are created right here in America.
It is thrilling to be able to get into a car and drive across this huge, friendly country filled by smiling wholesome beautiful people. In my early years of college a fair amount of my time was spent hitch-hiking around the western United States. This was when I was studying agriculture/animal science at Cal Poly-Pomona. I could talk the lingo with farmers and spent short stints sleeping in barns and earning meals and money doing farm chores before moving on with many thanks on both sides. I could have happily settled down in a hundred small towns and fallen in love with a lovely local girl to spend my life with. The United States is just that wonderful. Traveling the small towns of America is the best way to get to appreciate the goodness of its' citizens. It's too bad hitch-hiking has become unsafe in the last couple decades because it got you close to the average person's thoughts as you rode along sharing gas money and coffee. I was lucky to have been on the tail end of the hippy era when it was still accepted.
There is so much more that I love about living here. It's not perfect but after having traveled large chunks of the world, both rich and poor, among vegans and true cannibals, I'd never live anywhere else.
Here are some more articles that give emphasis to my feeling of this country's greatness.
Why Democracy? Ten Reasons to Support Democracy in the Middle East.