However, you can't deny that there are huge advantages to living in the United States, and I enjoy those advantages, so it would be disrespectful of me to not take a moment and think about how glad I am to be living in America.
One thing I have an issue with is patriotic American songs. It's totally fine to write patriotic songs, but I find the usual stereotypical country-rock pseudo-ballads uninspiring. We've all heard stories of Jimmy and Suzie from Oklahoma or Nebraska, who lead simple lives and have big dreams that they may never see come to fruition, but who love their land and their family and their country like they love God. I've heard that story way too many times, but it seems to be enough for most other people.
My 4th of July traditions usually consist of two things: watching V for Vendetta and turning off whatever preprogrammed music comes with the local fireworks display (usually patriotic marches and "God Bless The USA") and playing the 1812 Overture while the fireworks go off. I only watch V on the 4th, because it's just enough time that I forget what happens and have to be reminded of the kind of integrity and patriotic love that goes into that story. Consequently, the 1812 has become this proud statement of strength and patriotism to me, as it was for the Russian people when it was written.
If I had stopped there, it would have been enough. But there's another song that describes my feelings about nationalism and identity even better: "Anthem" from the Broadway musical Chess. It concludes the first act of the show, and the new world chess champion from the Soviet Union is about to defect to England to be with the woman he loves. Since the world championship was between the USA and USSR, it was seen as a proxy for international politics rather than as a simple game, so the Russian's choice to defect immediately after winning causes a frenzy among reporters. They ask him if he will denounce his motherland, and he replies very simply:
No man, no madness, though their sad power may prevail
Can posses, conquer my country's heart - they rise to fail
She is eternal: long before nations' lines were drawn,
When no flags flew, when no armies stood, my land was born
And you ask me why I love her, through wars, death and despair
She is the constant, we who don't care
And you wonder, will I leave her, but how?
I cross over borders but I'm still there now!
How can I leave her? Where would I start?
Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart,
My land's only borders lie around my heart!
I am a believer in a school of thought called constructivism, which believes that no social construct can be taken as a given in any context. The idea of nationalism is interesting because the political borders of sovereign nations are constructed by the people that live in those countries. You can't see the border between countries, but they are enforced according to a social contract between two governments. So, like Tommy Körberg says in "Anthem," our home has endured ages before we fought wars, drew lines and "created" it. And it will be in our hearts wherever we go, as long as we believe in it. Take your sovereignty upon yourselves - your homeland is truly indestructible.
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