A sense of disillusionment

   I can’t be the only person who grew up singing patriotic songs at school assemblies. I can still sing them from memory. When I look back, I remember standing with the other kids, singing at the top of my lungs about how America, the country I’d been born and raised in, was the best country in the world. I believed it to. I think when American’s are young, we all believe that, at least a little. Every time you here your state or city mentioned, it’s with a tone of pride. Be glad you were born here, not elsewhere. When your older, your pride grows bigger. First your proud of being born in a city. Then you’re proud of being born in America. Then you’re proud of being of European descent, that your ancestors were people who saw opportunity and took it before anyone can stop it. 

   Looking back, is it any wonder we’re so troubled today? If all we heard growing up is how proud we should be to be American, why should we be surprised when so many lose it when they realize that isn’t true. 

  I don’t know why we keep pushing the idea that we’re the best onto our children, when so many of us grow up to realize that REALLY isn’t true. I think it’s just a tradition. It’s like Santa Claus. When your children are young, you tell them that if they’re good, Santa will bring them presents. You show them movie’s where Santa is real and cares about children and about Christmas in general. While they still believe, you pour everything you have into showing your kids that Santa is real. 

  Thing is, Santa isn’t supposed to be real, not forever at least. Everyone knows that once you grow up, you have to accept that Santa isn’t real and won’t bring you presents anymore. Santa is a fantasy, and once you grow up, you’re not supposed to believe in fantasies anymore. But we’re never supposed to stop believing in America. From the time you’re old enough to know what America is, you’re supposed to believe that America is amazing, if for no other reason than that it’s America. When people tell stories about America, the only people who question its greatness are monsters. 

   I know I’m not the only person to think there’s something deeply, deeply wrong with this mindset. From what I’ve heard, most countries don’t have a narrative like this. The ones that do tend to be places that are viewed as monstrous, especially by American’s. 

  I don’t believe America is the best anymore. I don’t even know if I think it’s that great a country. Don’t get me wrong, it has good points. But our biggest problem is we’re so fixated on being great we don’t want to notice the enormous problems we have, so we don’t until it’s too late to fix them. From what I hear, this is relatively new. The last congressional amendment was passed in 1992. But now whenever anyone suggest much needed changes, someone, usually republicans, fights back. 

   Part of me wants to keep singing patriotic songs. Most of them suck, but when you sing them with other people, it fills you with pride. But most of me thinks that these songs do more harm than good. If we grew up to realize that America is a country and that like every other country, it has issues that need to be worked if we want to improve (or even just to hold the country together) that’d be one thing. But we don’t. We keep holding onto a great cultural fantasy, even when it becomes clear that, like Santa Claus, it isn’t real.