Vahaken Mouradian, an editor for National Review from Cyprus, has written a post entitled Why I’ve Fallen for America. It consists simply of a list of things he finds endearing about this country:
The Colorado sky. The Bishop’s Garden at the Cathedral Church in Washington. Redwoods, Red Alert 2 (but not 3), red Solo® cups, Red Lobster. The ability to take anything seriously or unseriously. The F-16, the M16. The very size of the place. Southern Gothic, Midwestern blondes, bluegrass, the Christmas-movie genre, nonholy holidays. . . .
He keeps going, including “ideological polarization,” reminding us that strong disagreements such as we have here are not allowed in many countries. I like how Mouradian jumbles together big things and little things, ideas (polarization) and artifacts (red Solo cups), and how personal this catalogue is (reflecting the author’s love of video games and chain restaurants).
As an exercise for Independence Day weekend, let’s do the same. Just make a list of things you appreciate about this country. (Readers from other countries, I invite you to do the same for wherever you are from.) Feel free to discuss each other’s lists, but remember that they reflect personal feelings rather than opinions to disagree with. (You may not like the Christmas-movie genre, but Mouradian cites it as one reason he loves America, and he’s entitled to his sentiment.)
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