No Stupid Questions

I'm German and I don't think that it's particularly healthy to be proud of the country you're from. It's basically the belief that your own traditions, language and land are better than that of others. Like I get calling a place home, but so many places in Germany are as foreign to me as places in other countries. Maybe more familiar, but familiarity isn't the same as something being good.

Anyone who was proud of america before was just drinking the coolaid. There are things america did that were worth being proud of individually, but soo many more not to. It's the same idea as idolizing a person. The vast majority of the time they are really a bad person overall. Instead focus on the event or achievement and not the person.

You're getting a lot of the same comments in here, and I don't feel like I need to add to the cacophony of voices decrying just how bad things have gotten (or, if you prefer, how bad they have always been and how they have only just now become more visible to us) so I thought I would chime in with one that still holds true today.

The United States has some of the best national parks in the world. If you are someone who enjoys nature and being in the great outdoors, whether that's hiking, hunting, fishing, birdwatching, climbing, caving, exploring, etc. the experience you can get here really can't be matched anywhere else in the world. We have the most diverse range of biomes anywhere on the planet - deserts, mountains, valleys, forests, badlands, swamps - you name it, we've got it and it's probably contained in one of our many national parks scattered across the countryside - and the best part is that access is free for everybody.

Now, the big caveat, and one that kind of deflates this selling point quite a bit recently, is that a lot of the national park land and nature reserves are under threat right now by the Trump administration - there have been big moves by the executive to reclassify lots of federally protected land in order to expand oil drilling/fracking operations, as well as a push to force non-resident visitors to pay for entry, both of which are being fought tooth and nail by conservationists and environmental activists.

So, there's something. We can debate on whether or not it's a good thing to have national pride over things that we have little to no control over, but at the very least we can say we enjoy what we have now and take pride in the fact that our forebearers had the wisdom to use the law to protect the land and it's precious resources and that we continue that effort into the modern era.

Being "proud of your country" is the root cause for all this shit.

Be proud of your family, your city, your friends, your self. even your company if they do good by you and others.

Never your country.

Over the past decade, you can be proud of how you’ve made inclusive principles a standard feature of your cultural products.

Today, you’re facing backlash from the idiots who are panicking, but in Europe many of us are still lagging behind, and the positive effects of your influence on inclusion are still being felt.

Totally normal feeling and it shows you have awareness of what is going on.

There are tons of good people in the US and even more that would be good if our society wasn't so twisted.

Maybe not the government, but look to the people.

MLK jr and the civil rights movement are just as much a part of America as Jim Crow and slavery. ICE is America but so is every protester fighting it. Lincoln is America. The KKK is America. Trump is America. Luigi is America.

The thing about people is we like to make things simple and put things in a box, and not have exceptions. But that's almost never true, and the US is a land of contradictions. We're very good people, and we're very bad people.

So yeah, it's going down the drain, but it's always been going down the drain. It's also going to get better, and it always has, little by little. Hopefully we can weather this storm and rebuild.

Nationalism tells you your nation is what to be proud of, but that's dangerous and manipulative.

Instead, focus on the people. You can be proud of the people who are protesting, people who are running secret grocery runs for people hiding from ICE, people promoting progressive or scientific thought in threatened educational spaces, and so on.

There are still plenty of us left in the US, some against our will, and you can still be proud of them for still trying when so many others have given up.

Let me tell you the good news: we've always been fascist, racist, bullies. This admin is just not covering it up at all. Glad you're awake now my guy.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is legitimately the best in the world and other countries wish they treated disabled people as well as America

Most reasons to be proud of america were lies from the beginning. Try to find other stuff to be proud of. I hear carpentry is pretty cool. Good luck!

The protests in Oregon and Minnesota show that we are still America despite the MAGA separatists attempt to destroy us. And although this current chapter sucks hardcore, we now see our neighbors and "friends" for what they really are.

The separatists really thought they could just steamroll us. But, it didn't go according to plan. We also scare the whole cabinet enough that they are living on military bases because they literally fear for their lives.

MAGA is eating itself alive which is the only outcome of a movement based entirely on hatred and destruction. So, we are showing our resolve. That's the undercurrent that shows we still have some good left in us.

I would probably say your movie and tv show industry, im not going to comment on the the actual conditions for writers, actors, people who work in the industry (out of my expertise), the output is pretty amazing. No other country has produces the sheer content and quality of media you do.

I think it's easier to find success stories if you ask this question about your town than your country.

A few weeks ago I took my kid to a parking lot by a park so he could practice biking, and when we got there there were nearly a dozen kids biking, and a band was playing etherial middle eastern music next to us to a crowd as the full moon hung over a lake draped in light of the setting sun.

It was gorgeous, and free, both financially and in spirit. It was a beautiful appreciation of people and art from across the world. I thought for a moment that it was a picture of what I'd like America to one day be, then realized that I was in America, and it was already a picture of what America IS. It's unfortunate that America is also many terrible other things. But America is also this. And that spirit is what brought these musicians or their parents to America, and eventually to that parking lot by the lake under the full moon.

There are several websites about current good news, some of which is happening in this country right now.

Here's a simple one:

In October 2025, following pressure from United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered cities across the state to remove LGBTQ+ Pride crosswalks and other road markings that “advance political agendas” and “ideologies.”

Abbott cited safety concerns and violation of state and federal guidelines as reasons to invoke the measure, which required cities to comply within 30 days or risk losing transportation funding.

...

But, in the meantime, the new, colorful sidewalks do not violate any local regulations, and Kaur and McKee-Rodriguez hope they signal an ongoing commitment to LGBTQ+ Pride in San Antonio.

We are really, really good at making billionaires even richer while decreasing quality of life for the weak, lazy 99%. /s but sadly not really

It's very easy to disparage a nation state due to the actions of their government and forget that there are good people everywhere that are well intentioned and trying to do the right thing. The No Kings protest movement is a good example of that. Building solidarity movements with humane values is the way we change society for the better.

Some people love their country like a child loves their parent. Uncritical. They can do no wrong and are the best ever. Don't be like that.

Some people love their like like a peer loves a peer. You see their flaws and want them to be the best they can be. Be like that, even when it's uncomfortable and difficult.

I don't know. You (as an American) are in a better place to judge that than I.

What I do know is this: people are people. And for every rotten son of a bitch, there's someone else, quietly, moving heaven and earth to do good - both in big ways and small. If we're going to tilt at windmills, we may as well tilt at windmills together.

The only difference between now and what it used to be is that the mask has been taken off of US politics. Who you see in Trump and the entire Republican administration is who this country has always been. Regardless of whether it's Democrat or Republicans, they've always been war hungry, serving only the CEOs bankers and Wall Street while tossing us occasional table scraps, so we didn't get too loud in our grumbling.

The only effort that Democrats have put in is trying to put that mask back onto US politics and back to business as usual. Once the mask comes off it can't be put back on.

Edit sp

You should be proud to be human.

Not to be born within some imaginary line drawn on a map, in an area that later got "cleaned" as much as possible of everyone else not speaking the same language or worshipping the same god.

Hell yeah! America is now the number one exporter in highly qualified workers!

Today all the things are gone
I'd worked for all my life
And its hard to start again
With no children and my wife
I'd rue my cursed stars
To be living here today
'Cause the flag now stands for serfdom
And freedoms been taken away

And I'm ashamed to be an American
Where folks pretend their free
And I won't forget, the men who lied
Who took that life from me
And I'd gladly stand up
Next to you and regain her still today
'Cause ain't no doubt I used to love this land
God help the USA

From the lakes of Minnesota
To the hills of Tennessee
Across the plains of Texas
From sea to shining sea
From Detroit down to Houston
And New York to L.A
Well there's disgust in every American heart
And it's time we stand and say

As an American, I will never have faith in or be proud of this country again. Simple as that. That ship has sailed.

the lgbtq+ rights in your country seems amazing compared to my own