The American Critics Club

For a while now, an awful lot of Americans have acted as if they are card-carrying members of the American Critics Club.

Every time there’s something positive about America in the news, they always counter with “Yes, but ….” Their perspective is the social equivalent of Newton’s third law of motion: for everything that’s good about this country, there has to be something that’s bad.

It’s a self-inflicted, self-indulgent perversion of reality. Although seldom reported by our media outlets, there’s far more kindness than malice, far more decency than evil in this nation.

That’s not to say the country is perfect. We the People are human after all, so our democracy is shaped by our own imperfections.

And yet, I believe unconditionally in three truths about America and its people:
• First, our country is an exceptional place of both beauty and bounty;
• Second, most of us strive to live here as the best of ourselves;
• And third, we are very lucky to call the USA home.

Here’s how I expressed those beliefs in the opening pages of The Neonaissance:

America the Beautiful

A strange thing happens when Americans travel abroad. When we visit other places and people, we often admire, even marvel at the beauty and accomplishments we see, and at the same time, we find ourselves touched with an unusual feeling: a deep appreciation for what we have in our own country. Americans don’t take their individual rights and prosperity or the beauty and bounty of their land for granted, but we do sometimes work so hard and live so rapidly that we … well, we overlook them. It’s not until we’re on a trip to some foreign land that we find ourselves with the time and the inclination to remember just how special this place we call home truly is.

It would be better or at least more appropriate, if we didn’t need such prompting. If we naturally and regularly acknowledged the extraordinary gift we’ve been given as citizens of this country. America is sometimes described as a shining city on a hill or as a land of opportunity, and it is both of those, to be sure. But just as important, America is the rescue dog of our planet. And, we should celebrate that too.

We are a jumbled-up mix of every race and creed, political view and intellectual gift, orientation and persuasion on Earth. And, in our more thoughtful moments, we recognize that mélange as both a value and a strength. Like rescue dogs everywhere, we are imperfect, so we sometimes scratch at our differences, but almost always, simply seeing the flutter of a red, white and blue flag is enough to soothe the irritation. That simple piece of fabric proclaims, without reservation or modesty, the rarity of our breed. That symbol celebrates what we collectively hold dear, the transcendent promise of all of us.

What is that promise? What are the attributes we share as the rescue dog of nations? First, we are loyal. Sadly, not always to our allies (at least in recent times), but always to our ideals. We revere our rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, and we cherish our heritage of doing whatever it takes to protect them. Second, we are kind. We instinctively lend a hand to people we have never met. We open our wallets and purses and volunteer our time and assistance whenever other Americans and even those in distant countries are in distress. And third, we sometimes let our tail wag the rest of us. We get so fixated on petty and insignificant voices baying hate and division in our public square that we forget to embrace and amplify the goodness being quietly perpetuated by the majority of Americans every day.

Food for Thought,
Peter

America stands on the cusp of a new and extraordinary age, but one that we will have to earn with our individual and collective efforts. Download my free book – The Neonaissance: the New Birth of a Noble Democracy in America & the Two Mega-Crises We Must Overcome for It to Happen – to get the whole picture. Or, if you’re busy, just read the free excerpt posted here.