Just one final thought ...

... at least for the moment.

Apart from all the nonsense, the confrontational approach to "discussion", the truly adolescent desire to win rather than to find out what makes sense, the refusal to budge from a position because you'll be perceived as weak, the blatant disregard for facts and the apparent (at least to me) cry-baby attitude toward being disagreed with, yes, apart from all of that, what disturbs me most and disturbs me most deeply is just how violent my home country has become. I'm sure most folks living in the USA don't see it, but it is pretty obvious to everyone else.

Way back when, I became an English major because I held (and still do hold) a deep respect for language and how it is so closely intertwined with culture. Following on the Beat Generation and Hippies, I have experienced a lot of shifts in what may and may not be said and most certainly in how things are expressed. I am fully aware that language is ever-changing and dynamic and I have not the least problem with that, from a linguistic perspective, but I do recommend all my fellow countrypeople to take a step back and give another thought to how things are being said.

Something as everyday and pervasive as marketing, is couched exclusively in military and war-waging terms and notions; we once had a national pasttime, but now (American, not real) football has become the national obsession where opponents need to be killed, crushed, demolished, slaughtered, and if necessary (which apparently it always is, if possible) humiliated. The vocabulary has slopped over into other sports as well. But just about every other area of life has been infected as well.

Politics is the worst, of course, at all levels, and I'm including not just the politicians, but all those wonderfully unbiased newscasters and experts and talk-show hosts Facebook and forum commentators, not to mention that ubiquitous symbol of American Freedom, the gun, carried openly or covertly, it doesn't matter. But it is, for better or worse, correctly or incorrectly, t-h-e symbol of violence without challenger.

Don't get me wrong, I have long and ardently argued for and supported the age-old adage: abusus non tollit usus. It's never the things, it's always the people, but when you've got a populace as uneducated, egoistic, self-centered, self-serving as you've got and you live in a culture that not only celebrates but for all intents and purposes worships violence, well, in my small mind, you're asking for trouble, and that's just what you've got.

I, personally, for a wide range of reasons don't get back to visit very often, but I know more than a few people here who would like to visit but are reluctant to for the simple reason that they don't feel safe there, and when I'm there, neither do I. It's not the number of guns that's the problem, and it's not the types of guns that's the issue (though some reasonable rethinking wouldn't be all that bad, but as I said above, that's no longer possible). No, it's the people, pure and simple.

There was a time when the Ugly American was the one visiting other countries and forcing his own way of life on others. These days, the kind, friendly, willing-to-help American is being obscured by the hate-spewing, loud-railing, brash, bullying, ideologue. I know most of my fellow countrypeople could care less what anyone else in the world thinks of them, but it's just that attitude that allows Ugly to happen.

And, oh, by the way ...

Just one more thing.

I wouldn't be dwelling on this if about half my readers weren't from the States, because I think the Europeans and Asians get what I'm getting at. At least that's been my experience. It's my fellow countrypeople who appear be the last one for whom the other shoe falls.

Just about everybody knows the glorious and noble outline of American history and the revolutionary (in the positive sense of the word, not in the military sense, though that played a (as it turns out, most likely unnecessary) role as well. There was a time, it was an event, there was an important and deep-seated factum that arose in 1776. Now, I know that this may be a bit difficult to follow, but a key element of the break between GB and the USA lies in the idea that there was the universal, political, outright expression of the notion that there is such as thing as unjust laws.

This wasn't pointed out to me in history class back in school, but it has been pointed out to be in the meantime. "No taxation without representation" is a statement that challenges the legitimacy of a properly instituted law. King George had it in his power, and his parliament seconded the idea that the tea tax could be levied. It was the law of the land, and consequently, of the colonies as well. Nobody asked the colonies, however, and it was expected, as was wont at the time, that they obey the law, as it was expected of them. But there such things as unjust laws. And it was this that our forebears chose as the turning point for their dissatisfaction. Just because something is legal doesn't make it right by a long shot, but this -- in my mind -- defining moment of American history has been (apparently) swept under the carpet in the meantime, because as we know, if you disobey the law, you can't expect anyone to feel sorry for you.

If you don't believe me, ask anyone in a demonstration who doesn't follow the orders of a policeman, or anyone who challenges a policeman in any way, or who chooses to demonstrate in a public place only to be told they have to find another public place, or who feeds the homeless in spite of a law, or ... the list truly goes on and on. And, there are brave souls who are willing to challenge this blind obedience to law and order, but at the same time there are others who openly declare their opposition to judicial rulings (even if we know they'll rightfully calm down before too long).

The key issue here is not the mere existence of a law, but its "justice value". Was the greater portion of the colonial citizenry disadvantaged because of the King's tea tax (which was more a not-so-discreet corporate subsidy)? Yes. Was a very slim minority advantaged at the expense of the majority? Yes. Does the fact that same-sex couples can now marry in any way restrict the majority's right to marry as they see fit? No. Does the provision of affordable healthcare to the majority restrict the minority's access to healthcare at all? No. Does your right to own, carry, and flash around any weapon you damn well please infringe upon my right to a safe and secure existence, free from personal lapses of judgement? Not really. Is it in all our interests that anybody can get a gun, but not everybody can get a vote? No. I think you get the point (or at least you should).

There are unjust laws. There were unjust laws then, and there are unjust laws now. To insist, when it suits you, that laws must be obeyed, is disrespectful of all those who fought and died that injustice should be challenged. Think about it.

But while I'm at it ...

No, this isn't a cheap shot at my fellow country-people. It is simply that there are things I experience that give me pause to wonder, so while I was wondering about why these same folks think they're better than everybody else, I also began to wonder about their herd-like instincts.

For a people who likes to think they're all free-wheeling, free-thinking, well, simply free individuals, I think one of the best nicknames for the USA would be The Land of Conformity. I've had the wonderful privilege to live in and experience first-hand and intensively cultures other than my native one, and what has always struck me hardest is how much more tolerant these foreign cultures are of non-conformity, of individuality.

As any child or developmental psychologist worth his or her salt and s/he'll tell you that the most insidious and nefarious violence we know of is peer pressure. It's is quite often, and is always potentially, devastating to those towards whom it is directed. I have friends who yearn for the "good old days" of their youth, but in mine, peer pressure was writ large. It was demanded, expected, and resistance was futile, if you weren't willing to -- literally -- take a beating.

Americans, it should be said, have always been good at hiding such things. They'll talk about school spirit, our team, our school, our college, our colors, and I'm not even talking about gangs. I've never lived anywhere where trends, fashion, and fads have been so important. It's not just the clothes, or the hairstyle, or the manner of speech, it's the whole package. Whoever is not in is definitely out and will be continually and constantly reminded of such, even if the in-crowd has to resort to bullying to enforce its standards.

You can be a lot of things in America, just don't be different ... well, unless you happen to make a helluva lot of money by being different. That's the only real way to find respect, even if it's phony respect. Look at Steve Jobs and Donald Trump.

But whatever you do, don't think differently than your neighbors, you become suspicious. Don't "play the game", and everyone will wonder what's wrong. Question America's symbols, don't sing the national anthem at the baseball game, don't say the pledge of allegiance (the mere phrase reeks of conformity) at the school-board meeting, don't be a staunch alumni, criticize the police for being too harsh, question the legitimacy of America's foreign (and domestic) policy, ask out loud why the incarceration rate in America is higher than the Axis of Evil's, wonder out loud where one gets the right to simply change definitions of words (like torture) and you'll find out faster than speeding bullet (which just might be the reaction) just how you don't "fit in" in the Land of Individualism, but not Individuality.

Don't get me wrong ... I don't expect everyone to be consistent in their beliefs and actions all the time. It would be nice, that's for sure, but I'm afraid it's just too much to expect of anyone. What I can expect, though, is that perhaps we be just a little more restrained in our criticisms of others and in our hardoverness towards those who don't see the world as we do, who don't conform.

This has nothing to do with so-called political correctness, but it has everything to do with a modicum of tolerance and respect.

I didn't want to, but I couldn't help myself

There is a certain segments of my "friends" that is not going to be happy about this post. I'm not writing it to aggravate them, that's for sure, and I want to think that they in some way expect it from me. But, as we know, in just two short days, the USA is going to celebrate their 239th "birthday" and as I know from my youth, this is always a fairly big deal, even if the holiday won't be observed till next Monday. After all, in a land without vacations, you've got to create power-weekends where you can. The masses need a modicum of circuses, otherwise who knows what they might do?

Now, don't get me wrong: I think the idea behind the United States is a good one. I think it is noble, and admirable, and worth striving for. I'm a bit bothered by the fact that it has never been what it has asserted itself to be, regardless of how blindly so many speak of its Exceptionalism, its uniqueness, and its superiority. It is/was one of those grand ideas that somehow just never really got put into practice. It's not a tragedy (well, I'm sure there are a lot of dead people who have a different opinion on that), but it is sad that we Americans never really did live up to the goals we set for ourselves.

When the loudest purveyor of "peace" in the world has been at war for almost 95% of its history, I don't think it's all that odd to question both its intentions and its credibility. When those who claim the moral high ground of justice and equality presents to the world the reality of the highest incarceration rate in the world which is then populated by a disproportionate portion of people of color, I don't think it's all that odd to question its asserted values. When the so-called Land of Opportunity breeds the most dishonest and nefarious banking system the world has ever seen, I don't think it's all that odd to doubt the American Dream. And, when the richest country in the world can't find the least bit of empathy for its poorest and most downtrodden citizens, I don't think it's all that odd to question their integrity.

Oh, I've been told -- more than once -- that you simply can't compare the USA to any other country in the world. My response has always been the same: bullshit. Of course you can. What every country on the face of this planet has in common is that it is populated by people, and people -- better, human beings -- have a whole lot in common. What you decide to do with yourself and how you decide to act however you do is undoubtedly influenced by a whole lot of extraneous circumstances and conditions, no doubt about it. So, following that logic, if we apply an even slightly higher standard of behavior to Americans, because they are who they are and because of the position they (claim to) have in the world, well, then, that's simply the price you have to pay for being the (self-proclaimed) best. It simply goes with the territory.

So, for the weekend, I sincerely wish my fellow countrypeople all the best. Party hearty, for the end of your illusory betterness may be nearer than you think. It is also only fair to tell you: you are your own worst enemies.

As countries go, the USA is just an adolescent, and it is obvious to the rest of the world that this is how it most often behaves. Yes, all I want is that my country grows up. We're celebrating another birthday this weekend, and my most earnest wish for them is that they stop acting like children. I don't think it's too much to wish for, though it may be too much to ask.