kneel proudly
This day marks the beginning of our nation and 245 years later offers a chance to consider the questions that come with being a citizen. Some are proud to be American so they wrap their bodies in gas station quality, flag-printed garments from which spill forth the results of consistently consuming gas station-quality food. Soft, white, and dimpled skin squeezes — like toothpaste — out of Starred and Striped daisy dukes, and spreads like the same on a dizzyingly hot parking lot. At what point did the joke of America become a representation of it?
Witnessing conservative pundits gear the question of national pride towards a younger population takes the joke one step further and it's hard not to LOL — especially when non-binary, non-productive graduates of liberal arts schools respond so predictably. Further afield we observe folks who believe the straight axle of a power stroke diesel is the heart of America, and its flag a set of brass testicles hanging from the trailer hitch. Surely, anyone who questions or rebukes the toxic plume of smoke provided by a "tuned" diesel is the enemy of freedom and the pedal-to-the-metal individuals who write personal and historical narratives to excuse their behavior.
Looking at America today, one might be forgiven for imagining that the Declaration of Independence included a directive to consume like cancer, to take and take and take, and still be left wanting.
Also American, are images of foreign wars, collateral damage, interventionus interruptus, the greed of American corporate exploitation, our reckless solution to homeless issues, state-sponsored hate crimes, and our general disregard for fairness and equality in our justice system makes it hard to raise that right hand over our red, white, and blue pacemaker without weeping. How may we be proud of our nation and fellow countrymen who are responsible for countless atrocities?
Perhaps because pride is the wrong question.
Only assholes are proud of something they did not do. To feel pride for work not executed or shame for atrocities not committed is a mental disease, a disease we disguise as American culture.
When pride is found where luck is responsible, you will find entitlement.
Where shame and remorse are adopted by the guiltless you will find privilege—to have the time, space, and freedom to lament means that your basic needs have been well-met. I cannot be proud of work I didn’t do so how could I be proud of a country I had no hand in creating or evolving? I was simply born here. On the other hand, adopting unwarranted guilt is a sign of extreme affluence not nobility (when defined as the quality or state of being noble in character). When life is sustained without effort for generations then idle, soft hands embellish, and unproductive minds create unsolvable problems; a hellish Samsãra whereby the "quality of intention" is used in hopes of realizing a more heavenly form of the cycle.
Such sentiment, whichever direction it is aimed, reveals much. You may only ever be grateful (rather than proud) for what is bestowed upon you. And if you aren’t, say so. Let the world know just how ungrateful you are, let your resentment shine beacon-like to attract other unappreciatives. I will respect your honesty because it reveals a character that I can choose to not be around.
This doesn’t mean that criticism isn’t warranted. I can be grateful for my life, where I live, and who my family are without taking these things for granted — and also know that I have much work to do in order to leave this realm in better condition than I found it. My gratitude stems from my strong connection to what and who I value, and the work I do to improve them. And if you do not value the land and community around you I don't believe you have any business telling others how to better the thing you have and are not invested in.
In the absence of gratitude—or the work it takes to instill actual pride—many fill the void by trying to make their voice heard, their opinion known, and whichever way that goes will likely be extreme. Long gone are the days when you can feel overwhelming love for the land you were lucky enough to be born on while simultaneously resenting the many disjointed leaders who soil it through lobbying, gerrymandering, and bribery. How did we allow these ideas to become either/or?
Pride is poison. Being grateful is the antidote.
Pride infers standing tall. It suggests dominance, conquering, and controlling. But in reality, being proud of the work that you’ve done should bring you to your knees. Warranted pride expresses as humility, work worth doing humbles. The root word “hum” means “from the earth,” it is the same root as humanity — two concepts we do not foster in our current culture. These concepts are so powerful and moving that fostering them could instill a reward so great it would be worth hoisting a flag for, some might even say it could be something that we might be proud of.
