America the Proud?

[Lalaith]

Originally posted by jerseydevil
Lalaith - you don't have to be proud of being Austrian, or your country - that is your decision. Personally I don't completely understand it. But I am proud of America - what we have accomplished, I am proud of being American, and I am proud of my ancestors for packing up there life into a small suitcase - getting to a crowded haul of a ship and making their way to Ellis Island to a land they had no idea about. I have just as much a right and a joy to celebrate 4th of July as my friend jason whose family was one of the original founders of Virginia and descendant of Ben Franklin. American history is MY history - I really don't care about Ireland, Russia, Italy, Poland, Czechloslavakia. To me they are foreign countries - I am interested in them as foreign countries - not as MY countries. I'm only one nationality - American. And that's the country I care about the most. And I am proud to be an American.

But what have you done to "deserve" the citizenship. Have you build up the country? That were probably your ancestors and not you. How can you be proud of something that you have put no effort in?
It was just a lucky (for you) coincidence that you were born there and not in Afghanistan.