Being that my oldest is at the age where she wants to know
everything about EVERYTHING, we spent a good part of the day talking
about the American Revolution, about how it’s worth celebrating the
fact that our country is free, and about how the fireworks are supposed
to remind us of the bombs bursting in the air, like in the song we sing
at Dodger games. And my daughter, being the eager to please, earnest
child that she is, announced, on the way home from the beach: "Mommy,
I’m glad we live in America."
It gave me pause.
Admittedly, this is not the greatest of times for the ‘ole U.S. of
A. The economy is tanking, gas prices are spiking, jobs are
disappearing. Public education is a mess, public health care is a
distant dream, and the environment is eroding by the day. Our students
have fallen behind, our industries are being outsourced, our cars can’t
compete. Half of the world hates us, and the other half thinks we’re a
joke. Being an American has lost its cache, and as a nation, we seem to
be mourning what we used to be. A once- famous child star. A superpower
has-been.
And yet…there’s still nowhere else I would rather live. Sure, I
could have state subsidized health care in Canada. But would I have
Tofurkey? I could have a year’s paid maternity leave in Italy , but
would I have a radio station devoted to classic rock? I could have a
free college education in England , but would my kids have ‘80s day at
summer camp? No, no, and no. The rest of the world can put us down all
they want, but there are still some things that Americans do better
than everyone else. Read More.
Risa Green is a critically acclaimed author who lives in Los Angeles. In the last four years, she has produced two children, called Harper and Davis, and two novels, called Notes from the Underbelly and Tales from the Crib. She is currently working on a third (novel not child). Risa writes the popular Tales from the Mommy Track column for Mommy Track'd.
