I LOVE AMERICA

Actually I just like it a lot. I don't love countries, I love people, and also cheese.

One of the things that has struck me about the good ol' U.S of A. Is the unerring patriotism. This isn't a massive surprise or anything, I know American's have always LOVED America, but I never realised how fundamentally engrained it was in them.

I figured, like a lot of the less savoury elements of America, that it would be limited to red neck territory, but it's way more sinister than that.  (There is also a prevalence of loyalty to whichever state you live in, the rest of them suck). I knew there was East Vs West coast rivalry, and I can understand that I suppose, because they are totally different fish. But it's even from states and cities right next door to each other. San Francisco thinks San Diego is right wing and boring, and it thinks Portland is stuck in the '90s and full of failed hipsters.  Colorado thinks Utah is a red neck inbred cocksucker and Illinois wishes Michigan would sort its darned act out. New York thinks everyone is a dick, but we knew that already.

I had an argument about British people secretly thinking they are the best at everything. Is that true? I don't think we're the best at anything. I'm pretty proud of myself, but as a nation? Nah, I'm embarrassed to be English a lot of the time and the rest of the time I'm in England and wishing I was somewhere else. I have a dose of serious Englandism every 4 years during the World Cup, and even that inevitably ends in embarrassment. God bless England? Fuck that. God bless football.

Blind love for America though, it's across the board, it's in both the smart and the stupid, black and white, old and young. I honestly don't understand loving something so ephemeral so unconditionally. It's just sand and sewers same as every other country in the world. I love a lot of things but my geographical upbringing isn't one of them. 

I suppose it must seem harmless, to love the country you were raised in. And actually America is pretty good, it has an unbelievable number of places to visit, for a start. It's very good to look at and it knows how to treat its guests. They generally have a good attitude and everyone knows they have a dream. The unfortunate bi-product of thinking/KNOWING that you're from the greatest country in the world is that everywhere else, by definition, is inferior.

For a country so in love with itself there seems to be a lot of suffering. It's starting to look more and more like battered wife syndrome. Battered Yank Syndrome. They love America despite some serious issues. I could be wrong but you don't get often homeless people in London shouting God Bless Britain and if you did you'd think, wow, that guy is more fucked up than he looks.

Don't get me wrong. I love America, but mainly because they put cheese on everything.