The 4th of July is in our national rear view mirror. If you went to see the fireworks where you live, no doubt you heard the famous American song “God Bless the USA,” blaring as the Chinese made munitions exploded overhead. In the refrain, Lee Greenwood proudly sings, “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.”

 

I know it’s terrible, but it rankles me every time I hear it.

 

Not because freedom isn’t worth celebrating, but because Americans have convinced themselves that freedom is somehow unique to the United States. It isn’t.

 

Today, more than 80 countries are generally considered “free” by organizations that measure political rights and civil liberties, and well over a hundred nations hold competitive democratic elections. Nations across Europe, along with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Taiwan, Ireland, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and many others all enjoy freedoms that most Americans would immediately recognize.

 

Their citizens vote.

They criticize their governments.

They own businesses.

They worship…or don’t.

They speak freely.

They travel freely.

They raise families in democratic societies governed by the rule of law.

 

What is remarkable is how often Americans celebrate being free while accepting problems that much of the developed world solved decades ago. We almost seem proud of our deficiencies…or what I call “dubious freedoms.”

 

We are free to lose our health insurance when we lose our jobs.

Free to go bankrupt because we get cancer.

Free to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a college education that costs little or nothing in many other democracies.

Free to take less vacation than workers in nearly every wealthy nation.

Free to return to work days after the birth of a child because paid parental leave isn’t guaranteed.

Free to die younger than citizens of many comparable countries despite spending more on healthcare than anyone else.

Free to watch our children practice active-shooter drills in school.

Free to spend a fortune on prescription drugs that cost a fraction of the price elsewhere.

 

 

This isn’t an argument against America. I love this country. It is an argument against American exceptionalism…the comforting belief that because America is great, it must therefore be the greatest at everything. We aren’t. It’s okay. But it’s not okay if we remain content to lose and still call it winning.

 

Patriotism isn’t pretending your country has no flaws.

Patriotism is wanting it to become the country it is always singing about.

 

America needs the courage to learn from other free nations that
have discovered something we’ve been reluctant to admit:

 

A truly great nation protects liberty and gives its people the opportunity to live long, healthy, educated, secure, and dignified lives.

 

Perhaps then, when we sing, “I’m proud to be an American,” it will be because we are not only free, but because we have finally become as wise as we are proud.