Americans Only: What does America mean to you?

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You can be sarcastic about this or serious about this, I don't care. I'm just curious to know what Americans (or US residents) think about their country. Do you love America or hate it? Why? Are you patriotic? If you could sum it up in one word, what would it be? Just post anything and everything you want about this country, good or bad.

The only thing I ask is for non-Americans not to post. Thanks.

it means several things...from the land of opportunity to a morbidly obese man hogging down a greasy big mac and fries.

I don't hate my own country, but I think it's in a mess. The reason why I say its in a mess is that its experiencing lots of horrible problems all at once such as: obesity, rise in violent crimes, racial, economic and health disparities, and especially the Iraq War. I find it really embarrasing and sad for a highly industralized nation. If only the USA had adopted some of the ways of the Europeans, then such problems would have been resolved.

I mean no country around the world is perfect, because each one has its own positives and negatives.

I can almost hear the estimates of my IQ plummeting in other people's heads, but I'm moderately patriotic; possibly the only guy in New Jersey.
But one word:
Hollywood- where western culture goes to die

The place where bushes are elected to the oval office and a woman may win just because she is a woman--not because she is right for the job.

The birthplace of GMO's.

And of course, who could forget bottled tap water....

Although I understand that nations are important concepts with many practical implications, I don't really care. I enjoy living in the US because of the variety in cultures, societies, geography, ecology, and everything like that. In other words, it's the land and its occupants that I appreciate, not the idea that it's a nation with a certain government--that stuff is doesn't interest me. Cultures and geography stay the same or change relatively slowly, but national boundaries and governments can be rearranged practically overnight; they're abstract concepts, not physical realities.

The place I'd love a whole lot more if I could find some peace and quiet... that doesn't involve sitting in a cornfield or something...
Seriously. I love my country in theory, but I also can't wait to move.

It's home. I love the country, that is to say the land. It's a beautiful country. My family is here and has been for many generations. I would fight to defend my family and home.

PS - I would be sorely tempted to partake in the revolution.

I disagree with many things here, but like someone else said, it's home. I come from a semi-dysfunctional family myself (I mean really, who has a step-sister with their own name???); so I'm used to putting up with crap as long I still get to eat Aunt Bertha's cake.

*I don't really have an Aunt Bertha; it just seemed like a good name to use.

Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola

But America's greatest gift to the world is, was and will always be... Motown Records

I've been proud to be an American ever since I started reading Heinlein at the age of 8...

And a few years ago, watching that clusterf**k that FEMA had become, unable to get basic supplies to New Orleans, and seeing babies die from heatstroke.... for the first time in my life I was ashamed of my country.

Now I'm just deeply worried about it. We need a leader who can direct us out of this mess. We need a leader who can stand up to both the Right and the Left and take us down the middle and back to sanity. We need a leader who can get us nationalized health care before the insurance and pharma companies bankrupt businesses here and put too many of us out of work. We need a leader who can tax incomes and assets accordingly to pay the bills. We need a leader who can give us a common sense alternative to relying on people who hate us for our energy supply. We need a leader who will stand up to radical christianists, as well as radical islamists, or radical ANYTHING and return this country to something our founders understood, Freedom of religion also means freedom FROM religion. I don't know if we can find a leader like that, and if we can, I don't know if we could convince them to actually LEAD us, since it's a thankless job.

I'm worried about the growing signs of fascism I see in my country. I was trained as an historian, and I'm glad I'm within a couple of hours of the Canadian border, since it wouldn't be impossible to get my family out as refugee's if there were 'a change in our type of government'. I don't think it's likely, but I know damned well it's possible.

I am proud to be an American, and am happy many in my family have went over seas during WW2 and Vietnam and Desert Storm to defend that. Unfortunatly this nation has changed alot, is aggressive and does not work with other nations as much as we should. Their are many internal problems, and our uni-latteral decisions on the world stage are making both the world and our country worse.

Love my country. Hate the government. Hopefully Ron Paul will change that. We need to greatly reduce the enourmous size of government and the power it has and return power to the people (states and local government). Only then will we be free. I fear for America if Hillary or Obama get elected cause they want government to get even bigger and more powerful.

I am practically a Nationalist. I am one of the biggest patriots this side of the Gulf. I love this entire country and all it stands for but when heathen organizations like the ACLU try to take over, I can't seeing this happen to my country. I love the Constitution, too, and would die for it if I had to.

It is a collection of territories arbitrarily designated and incorporated into a single entity. Its existence has no effect on mine. I would defend my children, but never an inanimate object such as a country/government.