Damn kind of thought this would be an uplifting post.
Let me tell you the good news: we’ve always been fascist, racist, bullies. This admin is just not covering it up at all. Glad you’re awake now my guy.
yea that was really good news. I ment so a small part of me can be proud again to be American?
Despite having done things that seem dated in other countries, you guys did plenty of good
Just look at all the technological innovation coming from your country that saved a ton of lives (yes you have a shitty healthcare system, but these innovations will help humanity for the rest of its existence, they cannot be taken away)
Yeah like tomahawk rockets
Don’t forget the Big Gulp
And RoundUp!
Yeah, Bayer owns that one now though. No good things come when Germans start borrowing bad ideas from the Americans.
Can we keep the topic to countries that have committed and are committing genocide in the last 50 years?
Yes, yes we are. We have been for pretty much forever. We fucking suck.
We’re finally learning that it indeed sucks to suck
If you’re a birthright citizen, why would you be proud over something you did nothing to achieve? It’s also not your fault, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of either.
It shakes out a little differently if you’re naturalized, but only marginally. That naturalization test isn’t much of a barrier.
No reason ever to be.
You don’t think there are any good reasons to be proud of being an American? Why not?
Usually it’s considered pretty stupid to be proud of things you didn’t have a hand in. Why be proud of where you were born, when it was just random chance? I can see being happy or feeling privileged to be an American - that at least suggests what you’re appreciating is that it benefits you. Saying you’re proud implies that being from the USA is some sort of moral success and it’s just not.
I don’t know if you want to call it something other than pride, but I’ve never learned another word for what I would feel if John Brown had been my grandfather. It’s not my achievement, nor would I feel entitled to it in any way, but it would make me feel warm and grounded. My actual grandfather was a wife beating alcoholic, and I feel shame about him, even though he died before I was born and I had nothing to do with this.
I think that’s pretty common, even if it’s not logical, which happens a lot with feelings. I know several people whose parent(s) died when they were teenagers and in a period of tension with each other. All agree that the others shouldn’t feel any guilt for being normal teenagers when their parents died, and that the other parents knew they were loved, but most of them still feel as though they themselves had wronged their parents because of their teenagedom.
“Usually it’s considered pretty stupid to be proud of things you didn’t have a hand in.” Is it stupid to be proud of a friend when they accomplish something you didn’t help with, just because they are a part of your life and you want to see them succeed? Could that not be extrapolated out to pride in one’s country when it accomplishes something, even if all you directly contributed was your tax money?
“Why be proud of where you were born, when it was just random chance?” Because the place I was born creates the circumstances in which I was raised, forming the environment that shapes my values, worldview, and culture. I don’t think I should feel like I deserve credit, but why not have pride in knowing that I have the opportunity to carry on the legacy and work that accomplished pride-worthy things in the past?
I’m proud of being gay. Are you saying I shouldn’t be?
I’m sorry but this is incorrect.
Pride is not necessarily personal achievement - sometimes it’s identification or belonging. Our belonging to a group might be random chance, but endorsing the qualities of that group, shaping and participating in that group afterward are all active.
And frankly, no one needs to prove their pride to you. You’re not any kind of arbiter over whether people “deserve” to be proud of something.
Best of luck to you.
I would suggest you focus on outgrowing the need to be proud of your nationality. It’s not necessary to be able to wave a flag happily to live a good life, do good things with your time, and appreciate others who are doing the same.
The second you try to take this to the level of the entire country, and specifically the nation-state itself… now you’re into a whole mess. The US has a lengthy history of atrocities, toppling democracies, massacring innocents, dominating weaker groups… just don’t go there.
A trick is to acknowledge that there’s many alternatives. You can choose to be proud of your state, county, or simply just say “yeah my country is a cunt, so what?” And realize pride of your country doesn’t impact whether or not you’ve been a good, nice, or kind person.
Well, you freed the slaves that you had enslaved. I mean, their descendants anyway.
I guess the answer is yes. Some small part of you can be proud to be American again. All you have to do is not think about it too hard, and you could try yelling “Silver Bullet” and shotgunning a Coors Light every now and then. That could maybe act as a stand-in for pride, anyway. C’mon buddy, it’s
notthat bad…In all seriousness, individually Americans are pretty good people. Well, a few of the ones I know personally anyway. That’s like a couple of baker’s dozens! That’s something!
The US is the only western country where slavery is still legally practiced.
Pride should be reserved for accomplishments, not for merely being born within some lines on a map. That being said, some immigration stories could be classed as accomplishments, so perhaps there’s pride to be found there.
Why would you be proud to be American?
It was founded on cruelty, and never improved.
The civilised world has always sneered at the US, and for good reason
Pretty much this, my friends and family thought I was being negative. But now, a few either, don’t like admitting it or they act like I’m a wizard.
Any nation that still ends official messages with “god bless America” and whose primary power projection has been weapons for centuries, is still a shithole. You’re not saying “allahu ackbar” because your religious extremists use a slightly different book.
Nationalism tells you your nation is what to be proud of, but that’s dangerous and manipulative.
Instead, focus on the people. You can be proud of the people who are protesting, people who are running secret grocery runs for people hiding from ICE, people promoting progressive or scientific thought in threatened educational spaces, and so on.
There are still plenty of us left in the US, some against our will, and you can still be proud of them for still trying when so many others have given up.
This is true wisdom.
There are several websites about current good news, some of which is happening in this country right now.
In October 2025, following pressure from United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered cities across the state to remove LGBTQ+ Pride crosswalks and other road markings that “advance political agendas” and “ideologies.”
Abbott cited safety concerns and violation of state and federal guidelines as reasons to invoke the measure, which required cities to comply within 30 days or risk losing transportation funding.
…
But, in the meantime, the new, colorful sidewalks do not violate any local regulations, and Kaur and McKee-Rodriguez hope they signal an ongoing commitment to LGBTQ+ Pride in San Antonio.
When the Idaho legislature banned Pride flags on public property to punish the City of Boise for flying one at city hall, the mayor and city council adopted the Pride flag as the official city flag. Best part, city hall is two blocks away from the state capitol building, so the bigoted fucks get a nice view of it when they’re at work 😊
This is actually one I didn’t know about. A small gesture, but a pleasant one. Of course the only story that made the front page was the one that sparked outrage when it was originally removed.
Hi. Random straight guy here.
looks at picture
…not sure why anyone would have an issue with this.
I’m more confused/concerned why there’s a series of traffic cones turning a 2 lane road into a 1 lane road without any obvious reason why.
Also, holy shit! That’s a lot of random solar panels! Someone call that phone number, and ask them what they power.
Cones might have something to do with those tents on the right. Might be an event at a venue.
The reason for the cones is just out of frame at the top.
The old design has the rainbow across the crosswalk, which actually does go against traffic safety standards, so the reason for it gaining the attention to get removed may not have been valid, but the actual removal reason was. And to show faith, they just redesigned it to meet standards. Here’s the original design:
Never saw this aerial view before neat! Tbh I do like the side walk more tho. The street one i find quite distracting/disorienting. And a crosswalk isn’t where I want to invite distractions.
The flag switch is badass.
Wait, what safety features are unmet? The white lines are the borders of the crosswalk, and the half white line is the stop line for traffic at the intersection.
What’s it missing?
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/resources/crosswalk_marking_selection_guide.pdf, Page 22. It’s not one of the official crosswalk selection options. Page 23 talks more about how decorative options fit into it and how it should be low contrast.
I was not expecting a literal rainbow road.
Why oh why does their website only allow one line for headlines. There is no way to scroll to see what is there since all you can read are 3 words.
Wow, that flew under the radar. An entire city that has solved poverty, crime, health issues and homelessness to the extent they can spend time and money on this performative bullshit. At least the city lawyers will eat well.
The only difference between now and what it used to be is that the mask has been taken off of US politics. Who you see in Trump and the entire Republican administration is who this country has always been. Regardless of whether it’s Democrat or Republicans, they’ve always been war hungry, serving only the CEOs bankers and Wall Street while tossing us occasional table scraps, so we didn’t get too loud in our grumbling.
The only effort that Democrats have put in is trying to put that mask back onto US politics and back to business as usual. Once the mask comes off it can’t be put back on.
Edit sp
“It was real. I’d seen it. I’d seen it in reality.” • The mask of humanity fall from capital. It has to take it off to kill everyone – everything you love; all the hope and tenderness in the world. It has to take it off, just for one second. To do the deed." And then you see it. As it strangles and beats your friends to death… the sweetest, most courageous people in the world." “You see the fear and power in its eyes. Then you know. That the bourgeois are not human.”
Disco Elysium?
Da Comrade
Hell yeah. I need to do a replay one of these days.
Here’s my favorite quote:
"TRUE LOVE IS POSSIBLE ONLY IN THE NEXT WORLD—FOR NEW PEOPLE IT IS TOO LATE FOR US
WREAK HAVOC ON THE MIDDLE CLASS”
That’s not entirely true. We had a brief period after WWII until the 70s when the middle class actually existed, the rich were taxed at 91%, and unions had leverage. This has eroded quickly since the dawn of neoliberalism.
Not a historian, but wasn’t that boom hugely from war profiteering and the fact that none of the bombs went off in the USA? Our factories were all spun up and ready to go while most of Europe was rebuilding. Oh, and the decimation of German and Japanese industrial or technical powers.
But to your point, many graphs showing how much wages have flattened disproportionate to production do show that the period in question was a better time for the average worker.
Yes absolutely. Also not a historian, but AIUI that’s probably the largest factor in the overall boom for the US economy at the time.
I didn’t mean to claim that the US was ever a peaceful nation. The best I could say is that the US sat out from the world wars until they had both (1) a way to sell war to the public and (2) a clear financial interest. Post-WWII, every US war has been a bullshit war.
I also don’t mean to sound positive about capitalism. My only real point was that for a brief period, (white) workers actually had an OK social contract with the ruling class. It didn’t last long at all in the grand scheme, and was probably a fluke, not real evidence that capitalism works.
We are in agreement
Middle class does not exist, that’s a tool of the oligarchy to divide the working class into subsections, to give those higher up someone to look down upon. It reinforces individual over collective
Some people love their country like a child loves their parent. Uncritical. They can do no wrong and are the best ever. Don’t be like that.
Some people love their like like a peer loves a peer. You see their flaws and want them to be the best they can be. Be like that, even when it’s uncomfortable and difficult.
For me its like loving a relative who is a writhing hateful shell of what they used to be. Think Alzheimer’s or something.
But even that is glorifying a national myth, where the actual history is defined by subjugation and exploitation.
Wow! Just like a real relative!
MLK jr and the civil rights movement are just as much a part of America as Jim Crow and slavery. ICE is America but so is every protester fighting it. Lincoln is America. The KKK is America. Trump is America. Luigi is America.
The thing about people is we like to make things simple and put things in a box, and not have exceptions. But that’s almost never true, and the US is a land of contradictions. We’re very good people, and we’re very bad people.
So yeah, it’s going down the drain, but it’s always been going down the drain. It’s also going to get better, and it always has, little by little. Hopefully we can weather this storm and rebuild.
This is a great take and I’m glad to read it! Thank you!
I like how you make your point, but the soft power of the US is over. As pointed out by others, the current administration is a sympthom, not an aberration.
US may have military primacy and the reserve currency, but neither can restore the loss of the appeal it had between post-ww2 and 2020. When tourists get deported after months of incarceration and we see videos of masked federal goons shooting people in the face, that is something else. When allying with the US gets you humiliation, threats, or even missle and drone attacks, that just does not seems like the smart move. So, respectfully, with friends like the US who needs enemies?
Wishing you best of luck getting your country back tough.
When I say things will get better, I’m hoping that’s for the people of America and the world, not the US government having soft power. I personally don’t want the US to be a super power anymore.
This has always been my point when people say “back in the good ol days” or “Make America great again” or any other nonsense about how it used to be better… this is pretty much the best it has ever been! Even with the dipshit in office at the moment, it has pretty much always been greedy dipshits in control… we are raising the best generation to date in terms of nutrition being provided, the most inclusive in terms of race/gender/sexual preference… all we can do is hope we continue to make gradual improvement. People have always sucked. The elite have always raped and pillaged the poor… but there is less of that now than any time in history… slavery and depravity have been a part of history since we started recording history. I just cross my fingers and try to enlighten the young in my field of influence to be good humans and hope that some day we might not be as horrible as we have always been.
Idk we’re back sliding a lot right now. Overturning row v and well, the rest of what is going on. I just hope we can move forward sometime and soon
I think it’s easier to find success stories if you ask this question about your town than your country.
A few weeks ago I took my kid to a parking lot by a park so he could practice biking, and when we got there there were nearly a dozen kids biking, and a band was playing etherial middle eastern music next to us to a crowd as the full moon hung over a lake draped in light of the setting sun.
It was gorgeous, and free, both financially and in spirit. It was a beautiful appreciation of people and art from across the world. I thought for a moment that it was a picture of what I’d like America to one day be, then realized that I was in America, and it was already a picture of what America IS. It’s unfortunate that America is also many terrible other things. But America is also this. And that spirit is what brought these musicians or their parents to America, and eventually to that parking lot by the lake under the full moon.
This scene could be the opening paragraphs for a new Stephen King novel.
Yeah, and the next scene is where a bunch of obese federal goons climb out of their unmarked suvs to kidnap a few brownish kids and shoot some of the parents in the face.
No, wait that isn’t fiction. Those things did actually happen.
You ain’t wrong.
I was recently at a Maya city on a tour. The Maya gave up on their cities and the citizens abandoned them. It makes me wonder if that can happen here, the abandonment of the ruling class.
There are more Maya now than there were at contact.
Hell yeah! America is now the number one exporter in highly qualified workers!
It’s promoting Europe and the rest of the world to come closer together with new treaties and trade. It’s a positive move in the next phase of global relations.
They better figure defense out too, China isn’t building a massive military for nothing
China spends 1.7% of their GDP on the military, half the percentage of the US and less than that of the EU.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS
They spend 1/8 of the US and 1/5 of the EU per citizen they have to defend.
The US military is well known for flushing money down the drain in contracts and keeping old systems running beyond their intended lifespan. The US production of replacement ships and aircraft is taking a long time.
China is building new ships and aircraft like crazy. For example in 2025 the US Navy commissioned a whole 2 ships, a sub and a frigate. China built 18, including a new carrier.
GDP or not, China is making it happen.
I would probably say your movie and tv show industry, im not going to comment on the the actual conditions for writers, actors, people who work in the industry (out of my expertise), the output is pretty amazing. No other country has produces the sheer content and quality of media you do.
Hey, that’s a reasonable and kind response. I appreciate it!
This was unexpectedly wholesome. Thanks homie.
The protests in Oregon and Minnesota show that we are still America despite the MAGA separatists attempt to destroy us. And although this current chapter sucks hardcore, we now see our neighbors and “friends” for what they really are.
The separatists really thought they could just steamroll us. But, it didn’t go according to plan. We also scare the whole cabinet enough that they are living on military bases because they literally fear for their lives.
MAGA is eating itself alive which is the only outcome of a movement based entirely on hatred and destruction. So, we are showing our resolve. That’s the undercurrent that shows we still have some good left in us.
This is pretty big. It’s better to know your enemy than have them lurking in the shadows. They are loud and proud right now and we won’t forget that shit in 3 years. Your orange god won’t be in power forever and then what are you going to do for the rest of your life?
Focus on midterms, my friend.
Don’t think about 3 years. Think about 6 months.
The pessimist in me says the same thing that happened for many Confederates and Nazis: Forgiven and allowed to return into the folds of society, to fuck over humanity again.
I would like to be wrong. It is my desire to see them overflowing baskets and filling cardboard caskets.
although the thing is America can’t recover unless the supreme court is delt with, and democrats won’t do that, so the decline will just continue until it breaks
This is my hope, we understand them better than they understand us. And if civil war broke out the anti vaxers will learn what has killed the most soldiers throughout all history.
wait till november before doing a victory lap
It’s very easy to disparage a nation state due to the actions of their government and forget that there are good people everywhere that are well intentioned and trying to do the right thing. The No Kings protest movement is a good example of that. Building solidarity movements with humane values is the way we change society for the better.
You should be proud to be human.
Not to be born within some imaginary line drawn on a map, in an area that later got “cleaned” as much as possible of everyone else not speaking the same language or worshipping the same god.
Pride comes with accomplishment.
Being human, being American, being male, being white, these are all accidents of birth. There’s no reason to take pride in any of it.
Bring born in to a disaffected class of people, being gay, or a person of color, and overcoming that adversity to any measure of success, that merits some pride.
But just being human? Anybody can do that.
I understand but I think we call pride also the sense of belonging to a chain of individuals that achieved growth of knowledge, rights, scientific discoveries and engineering results.
It is a meaning of the word that would easily lend itself to manipulation but also one that allowed individuals to contribute and to stand on the shoulders of giants.
In that sense, the highest level one would easily be being human.
Being American isn’t necessarily an accident of birth.
Almost everything about the situation you were born in to is an accident of birth.
As in, you had no hand in it. Your parents may or may not have had some say in the matter, but for the vast majority of Americans, they didn’t choose to be an American either. Any more than they chose the color of their skin or the texture of their hair.
If you’re the child of immigrants, or an immigrant yourself, then sure, be proud of the accomplishment. It was hard and they (or you) earned the right to be here. But for most of us, it’s just where we happened to be from.
The US consistently ranks among the most charitable countries in the world, being #1 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2019.
I’m looking forward to 2026 statistics after the removal of USAID.
USAID wasn’t charity though was it? I believe it was taxpayer funded.
I could counter that it’s all taxpayer founded and I’d be right to some extent.
Yeah but you know what I meant 😉
Well, they have to for lack of a welfare state. It really isn’t much to brag about. Charity is a bandaid, which doesn’t solve the structural issues the same way that a welfare state does.
I’m German and I don’t think that it’s particularly healthy to be proud of the country you’re from. It’s basically the belief that your own traditions, language and land are better than that of others. Like I get calling a place home, but so many places in Germany are as foreign to me as places in other countries. Maybe more familiar, but familiarity isn’t the same as something being good.
