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The American holiday of “Thanksgiving” is the most of American of all holidays to me, even more so than our July 4th Independence Day (almost all the countries of the world have a National Patriotism Day of some sort or the other). I believe this is because no other nation in the history of this planet has more to be thankful for, that its citizens no matter how rich or middle-class or even truly poverty-stricken all know and abide by the knowledge that if they lived anywhere else in the world they wouldn’t have the freedom of thought, of expression, of love, of choices cornucopia that they have because they happen to live in the United States Of America.
In a country truly ordained and blessed by God, every citizen is free to believe in their God as they see fit or in no God at all if that is their choice. In a country in a constant state of political shifts, all its citizens know they won’t be tortured by the State or shot because they belong to an opposition political party. In a country that perpetually reinvents itself commercially, even those whose jobs are re-shufffled or outsouced or misplaced or displaced or simply swallowed up by the invisible tsunami waves of progress know that even though they might face temporary economic hardships that the process will balance itself and they will be fine, after all is said and done. Even when present circumstances might make the collective future of America look a little shaky, Americans know that for over two hundred years the next generation has always made for itself a little better reality than the last one had. In a country that for usually better and yes sometimes worse define popular culture for the rest of the world, there are no government jackboots with the authority to define for all of its citizens what the American culture should look like based upon the prejudices and jaundices of a tiny handful of extremists. What makes American culture so strong is that it gives every single citizen the freedom to contribute to the gestalt of the collective cultural consciousness if they wish to do so. In a country often decried by the rest of the world for its Puritanism on one hand and its moral decay on the other, Americans at a lot are virtually universally good, honest, decent, hard-working people who care as much about the futures of their children and grandchildren as they do their own present circumstances. Americans do have their vices and their hypocrisies and their sometimes moral inconsistencies, but almost every American I’ve ever known would give the coat of their back to a total stranger if they thought the need was there. Our unflinching generosity combined with our collective wealth to be able to be so generous to the rest of the world is a two-edge sword for us, earning us simultaneously both sincere love and appreciation one minute then anger fueled by a jealous rage that we can the next. In a country full of problems, we, we Americans retain the Golden Rule-based core values whatever our personal religion or creed or faith or not that will ensure that faith, faith in the cultural covenant which is our history and culture and Declaration Of Independence and Bill Of Rights and Constitution, faith will not only endure but also conquer. I am an American and on Thanksgiving Day I give thanks that I am an American, because I have much to be thankful for. |