American patriotism is unique Richard Morris
My time studying in the US south showed me the best and worst of Americans' belief in their superiority
A patriotic party goer awaits the 2012 election results at the US Embassy in London. Photograph: Will Oliver/AFP/Getty Images
Friday 19 April 2013 07.30 EDT First published on Friday 19 April 2013 07.30 EDT
"It's just those liberals who hate America." Fox News says something to that effect most days. I hope this is the last time a Guardian Comment is free piece begins with a line from Fox News, but it represents my point perfectly. There seems to be an allegiance of blind patriotism in certain aspects of American society.
I've seen a bit of this patriotism first-hand. A Republican friend here at University of West Georgia pointed out the following in our long conversation:
"America is the greatest country in the world, it just is," he said, before sitting back in his chair.
"Why is it?" I ask. I'm always intrigued to hear the answer to this question, because this is where the issue gets cloudy. There was a slight pause, before he replied: "It just is."
"What makes you think that?"
"I just know it is, I've thought that ever since I was born."
"OK, so under what criteria makes this country the greatest in the world?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you can't just blindly say that you're the greatest country in the world, you need statistics, you need criterion upon which to base the facts." There was a long pause to this, so I continued:
"If you're looking at it economy-wise, it's probably China, they've got strong economic growth, at the other end of the spectrum if you're looking at the level of state support countries give to citizens you can probably look at Norway or Sweden to be the greatest."
The battle is now lost. His eyes glazed over at the words "state support", and I won't win him back, but that isn't the point. What I do find surprising is how little this friend's viewpoint is reflected around campus. A lot of the students at my university honestly do not believe that America is the greatest country in the world. There is, in fact, a great deal of self mocking.
Before I came to study abroad in the United States, my British parents warned me to be careful with the kinds of jokes I make around Americans. My sense of humour is very dry, and mocking statements could be taken the wrong way.
As it turns out, their concern was completely unfounded. I've been pleasantly surprised at how many people can take – or make – a joke. My neighbour, returning from the ATM the other week having checked his balance said:
"I've only got one dollar left in my account before I get paid at the end of the week. I've still got more money than the federal government, though."
That's the kind of attitude I see toward the federal government here all the time. Americans still have an inbuilt attitude to hate anything state regulated and anything with too much government intervention. I often wonder if America will ever drift to the left, just to at least make it more centre-grounded.
I spoke to one of my host families about this attitude within American culture. The father, who is British but has lived in America for over 30 years, said that American patriotism went down hugely after the Vietnam War. When people really started to oppose the war, there was suddenly less pride in being an American citizen.
Some argue patriotism really returned after 9/11. This pride was certainly not damaged by the tragic Boston Marathon bombing earlier this week. There is a sense of camaraderie amongst Americans at the moment, a feeling of "we shall overcome", if you know what I mean.
But the blind love and allegiance to America scares me sometimes. Perhaps as a young nation, the US is still undergoing an identity crisis (they've still hardly settled on one language, let's be honest). The problem is that a lot of Americans do not realise the impact of America on the rest of the world. They won't realise this either, until they get passports and leave the country to see the world, which it seems now they're doing more than ever.
I'm not going to make any friends by saying this, but in all seriousness, there is something very creepy about the Americans who so diligently love their country. It's a little bit, just a tiny bit, North Korea. Obviously Americans are able to make an active choice in whether or not they like their country and president, but at the same time, I feel as though instead of loving "the Dear Leader", that some definitely do love "the Dear Country".
There is, as my boss pointed out recently, quite a distinction to be made between what he refers to as " 'merica" and "crazy 'merica" (for a hint on how to say that properly, say it a little bit aggressively and don't enunciate too much). " 'Mericans" love their country, but not blindly. It's "crazy 'merica" which does that. "Crazy 'merica" doesn't exist on campuses in the same number it does in the "true south", but if it hardly exists among young people in the conservative south, I highly doubt it exists in as much of the country as people believe.
Maybe American patriotism is something which slowly burgeons during their lifetimes, but I really am seeing very little of it here. The ones that do love America, however, are head over heels, and dangerously so.
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