One Radical Opinion | Why Do You Hate America So Much?
“Why do you hate America so much?”
That was the first thing I heard when I picked up the phone. I instantly recognized the voice; it was a former supervisor of mine. He is just as liberal as I am, although he likes to express that verbally, while I prefer writing.
His greeting was part on an inside joke that he and I shared when we worked together. Whenever we’d go off on a left-wing political tangent, one of us would throw up our arms and blurt out that question that we’ve heard so many times from our ideological opponents.
Why do you hate America so much? My sarcastic answer was, “Because there’s so much still left to hate.” He laughed and we continued our conversation.
Conservatives, especially those who subsist on the Fox News six-second sound bite, love to portray liberals as people that “hate America”. They call us the “blame America first” crowd.
These are the same people who subscribe to the notion that terrorists “hate us for our freedoms” while ignoring the fact that terrorists don’t seem to hate Sweden, India, or many other places with plenty of freedom. “They hate us for our indiscriminate use of overwhelming power, political, and economic dominance” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, I guess.
Do liberals hate America? Of course not! Liberals love America, probably more than Conservatives do. We love the ideals of the Declaration of Independence where it states that all men are endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We cherish the Constitutional notions of checks and balances. We worship the freedoms laid out in the Bill of Rights. We take seriously the welcoming call of the Statue of Liberty to give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
What Conservatives see as “hate” would be more properly described as “disappointment”. We are disappointed when our leaders and our nation stray from these sacred American ideals. If there is any hate, it is not for America or Americans, it is for the leadership that betrays America.
Every month I write thousands of words to convey my disappointment with America’s failures. However, I could write tens of thousands of words concerning what I love about America. I love our freedom of speech (obviously). I love our sports. I love how giving and caring the American people can be. I love our beautiful women. I love our cities and our wilderness. I love little baby ducks, old pickup trucks, slow moving trains, and rain… rah rah rah!
I see little benefit in preaching to the choir that way. Of course I love America. So do you. What good does it do us to take turns cheering all of our goodness?
I say that if you love something or someone, then you are particularly concerned when that something or someone turns out to be broken or sick. When your child has a fever, you don’t waste time bragging to everyone that she’s an honor student, you take her to the doctor. And you don’t accuse the doctor of hating your child when he points out that she has an infection. You thank the doctor, you get the prescription antibiotics, and you work hard to heal your child.
Furthermore, you aren’t “blaming the child first” by noticing that the child is sick. There’s nothing wrong with pointing out America’s problems. If you can’t identify the problems, you can’t begin to solve them. When America has done something wrong, however, I’m more than happy to blame America first. For example, America illegally invaded, occupied, and tortured the people of a sovereign nation that was no threat to us. Who am I supposed to blame for that, Zimbabwe?
Another of the Right’s aphorisms is “if you don’t love America, why don’t you move somewhere else?” (usually France, since we despise the country that gave us modern democratic political philosophy, crucial military support in the Revolutionary War, that big green lady in the New York harbor, and steadfast alliance for our entire existence. Stupid French!) As I’ve already pointed out, Liberals love America, too, so there’s no reason we should leave. Loving America means staying here and putting in the hard work needed to see America live up to her ideals. As much as they’d like us to emigrate to France or Canada, we’re not going anywhere.
Both Liberals and Conservatives love America, but Conservatives seem to love America in a “my country can do no wrong” way. Conservatives act like the battered spouse in an abusive relationship. No matter how many times he comes home and beats her, he’s still a good man. No matter how many times he goes to jail it was a frame job, a mistake, the cops were out to get him. Besides, he’s not abusive all the time; there are plenty of times when he really is a good caring husband.
Both sides love America and both sides see plenty that is wrong with America and in need of fixing. The real difference between us is not in our love of country, but in our assessment of what is really wrong with it.
Take just one example: gay marriage. In that issue, both Liberals and Conservatives see something very wrong with America. Liberals see immorality in a country that claims all men are created equal, yet discriminates against people based on who they love. Conservatives see immorality in a country that would elevate a “perverse lifestyle choice” to the same endorsement and respect as a traditional marriage. Both sides are motivated by a desire to make America better.
So from now on, Conservatives, quit asking me why I hate America so much just because I disagree with you about what’s wrong with her. I am going to keep pointing out what is wrong until I can convince enough people to help me save the country I love. I expect you will be doing the same.
