No nation is perfect. It is reasonable to find pros and cons with any place. It is reasonable to both love and hate your own country for various reasons. And it is easy to focus on the negative, especially when uniquely terrible things continue to happen in a country that should be known for freedom. But rather than despair over what a horrible place the world (still) is, remember everything there is be hopeful and thankful for. You can find so much love and positive power among people everywhere. Sometimes they are drowned out by the negative, but they are still there. It is important to remember the positive, no matter what. We never know when the wider tide will turn for the better! And while America shares unique problems, there are also unique benefits. There are plenty of things to love about America that we citizens take for granted.
You probably won’t die of thirst
We have free tap water! And while water quality varies across municipalities, it is treated at water plants to be drinkable so that we don’t worry about contracting diseases from microorganisms. Many people in different parts of the world do not have this luxury. Given that one in three people do not have access to clean drinking water, you realize how lucky we are to live somewhere with the infrastructure and expectation to provide that. And it’s free! This is not true everywhere in the world. There are many wonderful things about Germany but free water is not one of them. You have to pay for a glass of water at a German establishment. Here, you can almost always receive a free cup of tap water – and the supply is typically limitless. When it comes to the many things to love about America, meeting basic needs tops the list.
You can usually find a place to go to the bathroom
Speaking of basic needs, Americas can typically always find a place to use a reasonably sanitary toilet. With the exception of outhouses at construction sites and outdoor events, American bathrooms use indoor plumbing and a public sanitation network safely removes and treats its waste. Our bathrooms are also free to use. True, many independent businesses only allow paying customers to use their restrooms (understandably), but there are often public restrooms to be found (or at least, public establishments where people can freely use the restroom) – and for free. In Germany, you must pay to use the restroom at a gas station or train station. Imagine having no change in your pocket and having nowhere to relieve yourself!
We are a diverse bunch
America is such a melting pot from waves of immigrants over the course of this nation’s short history. While there are certainly people who do not like this (and I’m not even referring to First Nations peoples, the country’s actual original inhabitants), most of us celebrate the rich culture that different people groups share. It makes any place much more interesting. And we are allowed to be different. Everyone may not always like it, but it is our right to wear what we want and do what we want within the law and within our means.
We are a diverse bunch of parents
You will find a wide variety of parenting styles across American families. Though some are more mainstream than others, there are plenty of strong minorities who differ from more popular practices. We have the freedom to raise our kids however we believe to be best so long as we are not neglecting or abusing them in any way. I once read that, in some Scandinavian countries, everyone puts their child into daycare at the age of one (after having had a year of paid parental leave to care for their baby at home). That is just the way it is and everyone does it, barring a (possibly very small) minority. Here, people’s parenting and childcare choices are much more diverse, and for the most part nobody feels alone or weird about it.
We can change majors and careers. Multiple times.
I have talked with many people from Germany and learned that it is not easy to switch career paths once you have already started. It begins in school: as a teenager, you choose a vocation and you stick to it. You don’t change your mind halfway through and decide to do something different. Neither do you start working and decide to pursue something entirely different five or ten years later. Perhaps it’s not impossible, but it’s not as common. In the USA, people change careers all of the time. Students change majors halfway through school. Though it may involve more work, time and effort, it is perfectly normal and part of being an American scholar/worker. In addition, our tradition of entrepreneurship is another one of the great things to love about America.
Halloween is a pretty big deal in the USA
While Halloween’s origins are varied and stem from different religions, countries and time periods, Halloween as we presently know it is uniquely American. Few other places in the world celebrate Halloween as ubiquitously as we do here. Its commercial popularity grows every year. And while a century ago it was a much more truly frightening and raucous night with actual harm and destruction, it has since evolved to be mostly peaceful and harmless.
There are plenty of different ways to celebrate Halloween. For kids, door-to-door trick-or-treating is the traditional staple. Adults throw parties. Many churches have autumn festivals and focus more on the harvest tradition. Schools and even workplaces hold costume contests.
The diversity of Halloween expression
Halloween expression varies greatly. On one extreme, plenty of people have a curious taste for extreme gore and tacky body parts displays. Their yards will feature bloody zombies and terrifying clowns (poor normal clowns everywhere). Many of these people are very nice and are my friends. Though I can’t personally relate to the appeal of this Halloween aesthetic, enough others like it to fund a huge horror film industry and accompanying holiday decoration sales.
On the other extreme are cutesy Halloween decorations with smiling Casper-type ghosts and friendly black cats cuddling pumpkins. You’ll see this aesthetic around kids more, naturally, as well as in schools and other such institutions. Then there is creepy Halloween expression, which isn’t gory or bloody but simply spooky. There may be unsettling wraiths circling the front door or Victorian dolls giving you that look. You won’t be grossed out, but you may be creeped out.
Then there’s what I consider classy Halloween. Classy Halloween employs all of the midcentury players – ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, black cats, witches, vampire bats, Frankenstein, Dracula, mummies, and the like. This expression doesn’t involve the grotesque or terrifying but is more adult than cutesy Halloween. Classy Halloween decorations may include little white paper bag ghosts hanging from a tree (too tame to be creepy but without a smile or even a face), black cat silhouettes on the wall, and jack-o-lantern-anything. Classy Halloween plays on subtle spook and mystery, but not terror or even actual fear. It’s probably more like what your grandma (or I) would do.
…And All That Jazz
America is the birthplace of jazz. While there are so many variations of jazz worldwide (check out Ethiopian jazz!), it all started here over a century ago. And it is so varied. The jazz I love is totally different from the more recent forms of jazz popularly heard. There is ragtime, big band, bebop, gypsy jazz, experimental jazz, and so much more. Though you’ll hear it plenty of places, New Orleans is the holy ground of where it all began and continues to thrive. The invention of jazz is arguably one of the best things to love about America.
It is more cost efficient to comfortably house a large family in America
If your family consists of seven or more members, you’ll probably face tight quarters anywhere else in the world. And people who are from other parts of the world are accustomed to that. But if you are itching for more space, you’ll probably find something more available (and affordable) here in the USA than in most other countries. Housing is comparably cheap (present market notwithstanding), so if you want each of multiple children to have their own bedroom, you’ll have an easier time spacing them out in the larger-than-life homes common across suburban American developments.
The Takeaway: Pay attention to the benefits you enjoy
There are plenty more things to love about America, but here we honed in on just a few benefits that are more unique to this nation. We have certainly not covered them all and there are probably plenty more that you can think of, too. Whether you are also an American citizen or whether you are from another nation, what is your favourite thing about the USA? Feel free to comment below to share this country’s gems that are most meaningful to you!
However you choose to celebrate, have a safe and happy Independence Day!