On my growing pride in America

Let me begin by saying this isn't about Barak Obama. I like the man, I'm glad he's going to be the President, but simply saying that I'm proud to be American because of Obama is both un-insightful and disingenuous.

Instead my sense of pride runs deeper and follows the core of the American dream. I am immensely proud that I am from a place that bases (or at least tries to base) its evaluation of people on their actions, character, and abilities. We really are a land of opportunity, and with hard work, a little bit of intelligence, and some luck amazing things can happen. While it is true that Obama serves as an example of this (seeing as how he comes from a familial status on the margins of society (when he was even part of it) and without a sense of familial prestige or power to claim the most powerful seat in the country), his interaction is not isolated.

We saw these moments throughout Asia as people referred to our home with glowing terms (despite our unpopular president and foreign policy) or spoke of their desire to one day go and live there. We saw it keenly in a man who was beaming having just obtained his US work visa. The words that concluded his final interview at the embassy crystallized something for me, and I'll never forget hearing, 'Congratulations, with hard work I'm sure you will succeed in the USA. Good luck.'

This pride has been growing the longer we've been overseas, but it swelled by leaps and bounds on Nov 4. And while I was happy with the outcome, I was proud of the process. I was stupidly proud that we have these elaborate rituals, that multi-year process in which we elect someone from the populous to lead. I like that we choose, that the president isn't appointed from on high, but that the good ol' plebs get to pick and that they can select from anyone. I am proud of my right to vote, that I can choose from one of the top two candidates but that I also could have chosen someone from the green party, or Ralph Nader. Shoot, I could have even written in Dennis Kucinich or Bugs Bunny. I have the right to choose my leader, and I like that.

Sitting watching TV on Nov 4th, with a bowl of popcorn I kept thinking to myself, 'Go America Go!' It was a happy moment.