We Are All For Happiness and Celebration, But
I just saw this in my feed and was astonished that people with big platforms are encouraging celebrating the Fourth of July with not even a mention of the ways that it is complicated right now to celebrate this country. Huh?! Maybe instead of answering their question about best places in the US, we can name countries we have considered moving to.
Typing this in California, where I’m visiting family. I’m originally from here but have been living in Canada as a permanent resident for over a decade. I’ll always be a Cali girl at heart, but was finally moved to apply for Canadian citizenship a couple months ago. Come join me in Montreal! (Yeah, winters are long, but they’re a good excuse to buy an entire closetful of cute outerwear.) Side note: Finally got to pick up the Sassy T-shirt I “earned” for upgrading to anal! It was shipped to my sister’s home here.
I think maybe those of us who aren't right wing Kool-Aid drinkers have, nonetheless, accepted the premise that "patriotism" or celebrating the country means that we have to believe what they believe. That we have to yell, "Murka! Love it or leave it!" That we're required to wear flag pins, and keep flag stickers on our cars, and fly actual flags from our homes. That we support all of our military entanglements, no matter how morally corrupt. That, unless we do these distasteful things, we're not being "patriotic."
That's bullshit. My patriotism comes from knowing this country could've been so much better than it is, but that it still chooses--repeatedly--to do the wrong things over and over again. In other words, my patriotism comes from the fact that I actually give a shit what happens to this country and the people who live in it. The reason why I'm not a Thai patriot, or an Egyptian patriot or a French patriot is because I'm not personally invested in what those countries do. They can do good or bad things, but ultimately it doesn't have much--if any--impact on my daily life.
Not so, here in the US. So, if I refuse to carry around a stockpile of Chinese-made American flags, or recite the Pledge of Allegiance, or offer my blind support for a government which is perfectly happy to send more military resources to kill people who are no threat to us, while at the same time actively stripping domestic programs which protect people living here--right now--from actual threats to their safety, health, or economic well-being; all that means is that I actually THINK about my patriotism. I'm not just blindly following some shibboleth that ultimately has no meaning at all.
Canada. I'd move to Canada. It would allow me to still visit my family pretty easily.