Do You Love Your Country?

Tom EgelhoffPublished: February 24, 2015

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 15: Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaks during the dedication ceremony in Foundation Hall at the National September 11 Memorial Museum at ground zero May 15, 2014 in New York City. The museum spans seven stories, mostly underground, and contains artifacts from the attack on the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001 that include the 80-foot high tridents, the so-called 'Ground Zero Cross,' the destroyed remains of Company 21's New York Fire Department Engine as well as smaller items such as letter that fell from a hijacked plane and posters of missing loved ones projected onto the wall of the museum. The museum will open to the public on May 21. (Photo by Richard Drew-Pool/Getty Images)

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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been on the hot seat lately for remarks he made suggesting that President Barack Obama does not “love America.”

Whether his opinion is accurate or not depends on your opinion of the president and his actions over the past six years in office.

Do You Love Your Country?

After her husband was elected president, Michelle Obama is quoted as saying, “For the first time I am proud of my country.” The key phrase in that quote is “for the first time.”

That would indicate a perceived, previous, lack of pride in her country.

Paraphrasing former President Bill Clinton, it depends on what your definition of “love” is.

A Simpler Time?

Many of us, who grew up in the 50s and 60s, long for that simpler, easier time. It was a great time to be alive in America — if you were white.

It was not a great time to be alive if you were black in the south. So love of country takes on a variety of new perspectives.

One person’s childhood was filled with love, while a few states away another person’s childhood was filled with hate and racism.

President John F. Kennedy remarked, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

If we all did that would we be a more loving nation?

Is America Worth Loving?

There are things about America we all love. We have freedom of speech unless we slander or libel someone. We also have the right to remain silent when it benefits us.

In addition, America is a self-correcting country. Civil Rights Act, Wage and Hour, OSHA all made America a better safer place for all races and professions.

Are we a perfect country? Far from it but I think most of us aspire to be better than we were yesterday.

Some Final Thoughts

So, do you love your country, or do you just cherry pick the things you like and bitch about all the others? What you see as good for the nation, someone else might not see, and be blind to the benefits of your vision.

I doubt there are many changes that benefit everyone. Someone has to give in order for someone else to get.

Before any of us can truly “love our country” we have to define in our own minds what that country is.

I personally feel that I won life’s lottery by being born here. There are few other places where I would have the opportunities this country has afforded me.

So from that perspective, “I love my country.”

What about you? Comment below.