I’ve lived overseas a long time and listened to people moan about their governments. Most of the time— with rare exceptions, like when a regime is imposed from the outside— people have the government they deserve.
That’s where we are in America. It’s a country I still love. Up thread someone mentioned that it’s by sheer luck we were born here. I disagree, gently. My parents were from Texas. Their parents were from Texas. Their parents were from Texas and back to Virginia. Where else could I have been born?
That’s simply to say that this is my country and I don’t have another one. I love it like I love my family, of which I also don’t have another one. I’m not going to labor under the delusion that it is better or more special than any other family, but it is mine and so I love it for how it is. And I want it to be better, and kinder, and braver.
Which is what I wish my country could be. There’s never been a place in history where it’s easier to be kind and brave. We are richer and safer beyond measure than anyone in the world. I’m ready for us to choose to be so.