What Makes America Great

The 4th of July is a time to stop, reflect, and articulate why this country is so absolutely amazing. SixSeeds revved up the patriotic juices by asking our contributors to share why they love this country and what in particular makes this country great. What makes them want to break out into Lee Greenwood songs? 

Rebecca Cusey: Inventions that Accidentally Change the World

A hundred years ago (1908. I just Googled it...another American invention), an American named Henry Ford changed the world by making an automobile that was accessible to the masses. I love that we're still doing that.

Changing the world, I mean.

I love that a system created by Americans so bored college kids could flirt with each other (Facebook) and a system created by Americans so bored college kids could tell each other what they were having for lunch (Twitter) have now evolved into machines of free speech that despotic governments struggle to shut down.

Iranian freedom fighters...Chinese dissidents...indeed, dissidents the world over have a new voice because some American kinda thought it might be fun to tell the world his thoughts about American Idol and devleoped a network to do so.

Can't wait to see what we come up with next.

Jean Yih Kingston: Opportunity

The best thing about America is the opportunity that's right at our fingertips. Decades ago, my dad arrived from China with everything he owned in a tiny beat up suitcase. He began his great and scary adventure friendless, dirt poor and with little grasp of the English language. My mom's story was similar. With hard work and determination, they scrimped, saved and invested creatively. Soon enough all five of us were living the American Dream.

What's great is this story isn't unique. At SixSeeds these last couple of weeks we've highlighted others with  "rags to riches" types of stories.

Hard work actually pays off in America.    If only we could grant the same for the rest of the world.

Nancy French: The Guys Who Sell Fireworks

Every June, the landscape of small southern towns changes when enormous red and white striped tents held up by enormous American flags pop up everywhere --  inside there are enough pyrotechnic devices to blow up a small village.  It seems all Americans, even the most peace-loving of us, enjoy watching things blowing up.  A good explosion inspires awe and laughter because of the frivolity of absolute destruction, and nothing compares to the smell of a smoldering ash remnants of a good blast.  Sadly, you can’t just go around blowing things up every month of the year — people would talk.  That’s why I love the ever-reliable merchants who rent the big tents that would make Ringling Brothers jealous -- every June, like clockwork.  They not only make this nation great, they give us an excuse to indulge — ever-so-slightly — the patriotic pyro in all of us.

Rebecca adds another: Car Commercials

I know this is kinda goofy, but car commercials make America great. When you think about it, there are only seven basic messages you can express about cars.

1) It's safe (you won't get crushed like a bug in a wreck).

2) it's cheap (you might get crushed like a bug, but at least you'll have cash for the doctor's bills).

3) It's expensive (every one will know you could afford more than one of those cheapo deals). This is usually termed luxurious.

4) It's convenient (Oooh...look at all those cupholders)

5) It's tough. (You'll look like a cowboy behind the wheel of this truck as you drive to your desk job.)

6) It's fast/sporty/peppy which is closely related to

7) It's sexy. (This car will help you get dates.)

8) Recently, we added an eigth message - It's green. (Al Gore would approve of this car).

What's great about America is our endless creativity in which commercials mix and meld these messages. Some are funny. (Like our new favorite, Toyota's Swagger Wagon campaign. Some are informative. Some are filled with images that have nothing to do with cars. And a few touch a cord and bring a lump to the throat. I don't know how. I know we're supposed to reject consumer culture, live for what's truly valuable, etc, but I love the creativity of the human spirit that tries to sell me an AMC Pacer or a Ford Festiva and to make me excited about it.

Tom Walsh: Watching Fireworks, But Not At the Mall

Here in Washington, the 4th of July demonstrates something I love about America. I should note that I tend to have offbeat ways of observing the day. Though it's a short walk away, I never brave the sweat-soaked throngs down on the Mall -- I'm a fragile flower, you know.
 
A better option: three times in recent years I've been on my way somewhere at nightfall and ended up watching the big fireworks show from the shoulder of the local highways. Everyone pulls off to the side of the road when it's about time, gets out of their cars and watches the pyrotechnics, and then rolls on as soon as it ends, comfortably beating the traffic of the people who spent all day on blankets staking out the perfect spot.
 
But the years I've enjoyed the most have been the ones when, as the sun goes down and things cool off, I've been able to get up on someone's roof. You've probably heard that here in D.C. no building is allowed to be taller than the Capitol Dome, which is why it (and the Washington Monument), rather than skyscrapers, dominate our skyline. It means that if you can get on top of the roof of a three-story building, you have a commanding view.
 
On Independence Day here on Capitol Hill, if you wangle an invitation from the right friend, you can see a bit of the huge fireworks show over on the other side of the Capitol Dome, and that's nice. But what I really love to see are all the other fireworks shows going on. Every city neighborhood and suburb and small town seems to put some kind of show. This being a pretty flat part of the country, from a roof on the Hill you can see them going on in every direction, as far as you can see -- scores of little fireworks shows, maybe hundreds. Each is happening because the folks in one community cared enough, and took the trouble, to express their affection for their country, and for that community.
 
So yes, the official, "National" fireworks show in Washington is impressive, just like this nation writ large is. But this is also a country of countless small communities, with people who band together to take the trouble to make things happen -- like all those little fireworks shows, somewhere out in America.