Let me tell you the good news: we've always been fascist, racist, bullies. This admin is just not covering it up at all. Glad you're awake now my guy.

Nationalism tells you your nation is what to be proud of, but that's dangerous and manipulative.

Instead, focus on the people. You can be proud of the people who are protesting, people who are running secret grocery runs for people hiding from ICE, people promoting progressive or scientific thought in threatened educational spaces, and so on.

There are still plenty of us left in the US, some against our will, and you can still be proud of them for still trying when so many others have given up.

There are several websites about current good news, some of which is happening in this country right now.

Here's a simple one:

In October 2025, following pressure from United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered cities across the state to remove LGBTQ+ Pride crosswalks and other road markings that “advance political agendas” and “ideologies.”

Abbott cited safety concerns and violation of state and federal guidelines as reasons to invoke the measure, which required cities to comply within 30 days or risk losing transportation funding.

...

But, in the meantime, the new, colorful sidewalks do not violate any local regulations, and Kaur and McKee-Rodriguez hope they signal an ongoing commitment to LGBTQ+ Pride in San Antonio.

The only difference between now and what it used to be is that the mask has been taken off of US politics. Who you see in Trump and the entire Republican administration is who this country has always been. Regardless of whether it's Democrat or Republicans, they've always been war hungry, serving only the CEOs bankers and Wall Street while tossing us occasional table scraps, so we didn't get too loud in our grumbling.

The only effort that Democrats have put in is trying to put that mask back onto US politics and back to business as usual. Once the mask comes off it can't be put back on.

Edit sp

Some people love their country like a child loves their parent. Uncritical. They can do no wrong and are the best ever. Don't be like that.

Some people love their like like a peer loves a peer. You see their flaws and want them to be the best they can be. Be like that, even when it's uncomfortable and difficult.

MLK jr and the civil rights movement are just as much a part of America as Jim Crow and slavery. ICE is America but so is every protester fighting it. Lincoln is America. The KKK is America. Trump is America. Luigi is America.

The thing about people is we like to make things simple and put things in a box, and not have exceptions. But that's almost never true, and the US is a land of contradictions. We're very good people, and we're very bad people.

So yeah, it's going down the drain, but it's always been going down the drain. It's also going to get better, and it always has, little by little. Hopefully we can weather this storm and rebuild.

I think it's easier to find success stories if you ask this question about your town than your country.

A few weeks ago I took my kid to a parking lot by a park so he could practice biking, and when we got there there were nearly a dozen kids biking, and a band was playing etherial middle eastern music next to us to a crowd as the full moon hung over a lake draped in light of the setting sun.

It was gorgeous, and free, both financially and in spirit. It was a beautiful appreciation of people and art from across the world. I thought for a moment that it was a picture of what I'd like America to one day be, then realized that I was in America, and it was already a picture of what America IS. It's unfortunate that America is also many terrible other things. But America is also this. And that spirit is what brought these musicians or their parents to America, and eventually to that parking lot by the lake under the full moon.

Hell yeah! America is now the number one exporter in highly qualified workers!

It's promoting Europe and the rest of the world to come closer together with new treaties and trade. It's a positive move in the next phase of global relations.

I would probably say your movie and tv show industry, im not going to comment on the the actual conditions for writers, actors, people who work in the industry (out of my expertise), the output is pretty amazing. No other country has produces the sheer content and quality of media you do.

The protests in Oregon and Minnesota show that we are still America despite the MAGA separatists attempt to destroy us. And although this current chapter sucks hardcore, we now see our neighbors and "friends" for what they really are.

The separatists really thought they could just steamroll us. But, it didn't go according to plan. We also scare the whole cabinet enough that they are living on military bases because they literally fear for their lives.

MAGA is eating itself alive which is the only outcome of a movement based entirely on hatred and destruction. So, we are showing our resolve. That's the undercurrent that shows we still have some good left in us.

It's very easy to disparage a nation state due to the actions of their government and forget that there are good people everywhere that are well intentioned and trying to do the right thing. The No Kings protest movement is a good example of that. Building solidarity movements with humane values is the way we change society for the better.

You should be proud to be human.

Not to be born within some imaginary line drawn on a map, in an area that later got "cleaned" as much as possible of everyone else not speaking the same language or worshipping the same god.

The US consistently ranks among the most charitable countries in the world, being #1 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2019.

I'm German and I don't think that it's particularly healthy to be proud of the country you're from. It's basically the belief that your own traditions, language and land are better than that of others. Like I get calling a place home, but so many places in Germany are as foreign to me as places in other countries. Maybe more familiar, but familiarity isn't the same as something being good.

Government might be corrupt as hell but at least culture of Mental Health acceptance is much better than Chinese culture.

I'm originally from Guangzhou, China, am naturalized and I overall like the US... at least more than China...

I just hate the corrupt politicians.

Also, so much entertainment stuff... movies, tv, are made in the US. Chinese entertainment is boring as hell (IMO)

Also: Usually those in the Entertainment industry lean relatively more left.

I still think Americans are generally good, if they actually knew the truth and not just far-right propaganda. (I mean that's just humans in general... people are easily manipulated by the evil few)

The problem is low voter turnout, first past the post, winner take all electoral college, gerrymandering, most important of all, the PROPAGANDA.

Americans in red jurisdictions... rural areas... those who never met a non-white person... have a problem with a distorted worldview...

Primary turnout is atrocious...

Right now my parents and their culture are smothering me to death... they hate the idea of medications and depression is not a serious problem in their eyes.

the drain has been clogged for decades, now its just BACKING up, which we are facing the consequences of clogging it in the first place. before we could use the plumber to unclog, but now its so big(trump) its just overflowing.

the lgbtq+ rights in your country seems amazing compared to my own

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is legitimately the best in the world and other countries wish they treated disabled people as well as America

now that the DOJ doesn't prosecute for it anymore, we're way better at corruption. the rich take so much more of our taxes.

Is America fundamentally different today than in the past? Like others have pointed out, it's not like we've got no skeletons in our collective past. Ask any indigenous person, a large percentage of black folk, or anyone who's ever been considered "a foreigner." The only major difference is that the same people who have always been assholes are feeling like they can operate out in the open.

But at the same time, the good that has always been true is still here. We're a beautiful country, with so many ecosystems and climates, two beautiful oceans, amazing natural resources, and we've been pretty safe from wars due to our geography and having two pretty good neighbors.

Those being selfishly rich or power hungry have very loud voices these days instead of doing the same things while acting like so-called gentlemen, but they're still a minority. Most people are just keeping their heads down and earning an honest living. Many are still doing great things like working on medicine, trying to repair our environment, raising and teaching our children, helping those in need, whatever you can name.

Maybe those that want to do evil in America want honest people to feel hopeless and to abandon holding on to what we have. That will leave it all to them after all. But I still love my home and my friends. I love our mountains, beaches, and wildlife. I love my America as much as ever, since I want this country to be the best it can be. But those who go around doing wrong in the name of this country, I want them to see justice more than ever too. We've survived the tyrants of America's past for over 400 years, and one way or another, we can only move forward and hopefully learn from our mistakes.

We can be embarrassed or angry for how our country is being represented and managed, but barring a literal apocalypse, there's still a ton of good left to find here between the land and the actual people who live here and cash this place home.

There is this video about some American traveling and complaining that everywhere he goes people look at him with disgust and disdain. So there is that.

No we're at the end of an empire and the dawn of a new world. Our bases across the middle east will be abandoned. More will be emptied or destroyed. Our influence across the world will shrink more than it is now.

The states we have may stay. Alaska might try to break off and join Canada in 50 years. Hawaii might join Australia and New Zealand as well.

Unless we get a political party that will advocate for taxing the fuck out of the rich to invest in america via trains, healthcare and R&D.

Don't get your hopes up.

The US has some amazing musicians

Anyone who was proud of america before was just drinking the coolaid. There are things america did that were worth being proud of individually, but soo many more not to. It's the same idea as idolizing a person. The vast majority of the time they are really a bad person overall. Instead focus on the event or achievement and not the person.

You're getting a lot of the same comments in here, and I don't feel like I need to add to the cacophony of voices decrying just how bad things have gotten (or, if you prefer, how bad they have always been and how they have only just now become more visible to us) so I thought I would chime in with one that still holds true today.

The United States has some of the best national parks in the world. If you are someone who enjoys nature and being in the great outdoors, whether that's hiking, hunting, fishing, birdwatching, climbing, caving, exploring, etc. the experience you can get here really can't be matched anywhere else in the world. We have the most diverse range of biomes anywhere on the planet - deserts, mountains, valleys, forests, badlands, swamps - you name it, we've got it and it's probably contained in one of our many national parks scattered across the countryside - and the best part is that access is free for everybody.

Now, the big caveat, and one that kind of deflates this selling point quite a bit recently, is that a lot of the national park land and nature reserves are under threat right now by the Trump administration - there have been big moves by the executive to reclassify lots of federally protected land in order to expand oil drilling/fracking operations, as well as a push to force non-resident visitors to pay for entry, both of which are being fought tooth and nail by conservationists and environmental activists.

So, there's something. We can debate on whether or not it's a good thing to have national pride over things that we have little to no control over, but at the very least we can say we enjoy what we have now and take pride in the fact that our forebearers had the wisdom to use the law to protect the land and it's precious resources and that we continue that effort into the modern era.

Being "proud of your country" is the root cause for all this shit.

Be proud of your family, your city, your friends, your self. even your company if they do good by you and others.

Never your country.

Many of my friends are organizing everything from mutual aid, protection of the targeted, and have expressed a willingness to die for the best values we were taught, if it comes to that. People like that are one good thing about America. Each of us can contribute in our own way, and many are quietly doing so. I don’t have a crystal ball to predict the future but good people fearlessly doing what is right feeds my soul.

All hope is false, unless engineered, built action by action. You want hope? Build it.

what did you use to be proud of?

loads

protect your democracy and vote dem in november

good luck!

Everywhere there are good people doing good things with the best of intentions - people doing art for the love of the art, actually taking care of natural areas for the love of nature, helping others because they don't want others to suffer rather than as some "charity" grift to make money or make others think they're good people, and so on.

They're just not in power in the US and, IMHO, don't add up to anywhere close to being the majority of people.

There are worse places to live.

Don't get me wrong, there are loads of better places to live, but there are definitely worse places.

America makes great animated series. It makes great movies sometimes too. Admittedly both of these things are usually actually made overseas, but you guys write them.

You also have a nice flag. Although you do kind of ruin it by being super weird about them.

You have really cheap petrol / gas. That's definitely something you beat most of the world at. I think that's the winner - cheap gas.

Over the past decade, you can be proud of how you’ve made inclusive principles a standard feature of your cultural products.

Today, you’re facing backlash from the idiots who are panicking, but in Europe many of us are still lagging behind, and the positive effects of your influence on inclusion are still being felt.

The collar of the USA is in the hands of Zionists/AIPAC. The USA is managed by Zionists

Not US here. I sometimes think that Americans are nice individuals, generaly speaking, but they are collectivly ferocious.

We are the very best arms maker on Earth!

The USA produces more military arms than Russia, China, Germany, and three or four other countries COMBINED.

That's not even counting small arms. Firearm sales have TRIPLED since 2000.

Every state in the union is part of the arms industry, even Hawaii.

https://www.nssf.org/government-relations/impact/

At the local level there are many people in many cities trying to make things better.

Today all the things are gone
I'd worked for all my life
And its hard to start again
With no children and my wife
I'd rue my cursed stars
To be living here today
'Cause the flag now stands for serfdom
And freedoms been taken away

And I'm ashamed to be an American
Where folks pretend their free
And I won't forget, the men who lied
Who took that life from me
And I'd gladly stand up
Next to you and regain her still today
'Cause ain't no doubt I used to love this land
God help the USA

From the lakes of Minnesota
To the hills of Tennessee
Across the plains of Texas
From sea to shining sea
From Detroit down to Houston
And New York to L.A
Well there's disgust in every American heart
And it's time we stand and say

You should have never been proud of your country its just more blatant than usual.

Totally normal feeling and it shows you have awareness of what is going on.

There are tons of good people in the US and even more that would be good if our society wasn't so twisted.

I mean America has plenty of industries the rest of the world depends on. Unfortunately, a lot of the good takes involve ignoring a lot of the bad ones that helped obtain them.

Don't be proud of your country, be proud of the societies you are willing to participate in and contribute towards. If you don't find yourself living inside a good one, go and search it out.

American here.

No. We're living in the early stages of a fascist dictatorship. And we've been doing this to the rest of the world for way too fucking long. The sooner we come to grips with the fact that the hens have come home to roost and we're reaping what we've sown, the sooner we can actually take it down and build something better.

lol. it's not your country. it's bezos trump musk thiel and co's country. you can live here as long as you don't inconvenience them too much

No. This is late stage capitalism, it is over for the US.

I have options to go to another country, but I choose to stay in the U.S. It certainly is not an easy decision given the many current and historical problem within the U.S. Like many of you, I believe Trump is the symptom, not the problem. The problem is much more deeply rooted and harder to get rid off.

Admittedly, my wife being in the U.S. is the largest driving force for me to remain in the U.S. Yet, here are some other advantages of the U.S. I have considered:

• EU tried to push chat control repeatedly, the vote is always close; and U.K. already have strict age verification law for porn (and possibly VPN). U.S. is heading there, but at least my state has not attempted any of these ridiculous moves.
• I really really enjoy the community in the U.S. city I live in, there is "real" farmers market, street fairs, local art conventions: there are fun events every weekend. Maybe I didn't try too hard when I was in London, but I am not able to find as much event in the U.K.: there are "farmers market" in London, but most of them just sell low quality importted plastic decoration/toys instead of actual groceries...
• US is a top funder of scientific research: https://ncses.nsf.gov/... . Now even China is out-funding EU and UK, but I am certainly not going to China any time soon. There is way too much politics in Chinese academia, as far as I know.
• I think education is a human right, and U.S. education is way more expensive than it should be. I don't want to defend it. But I believe U.S. has better educations thanks to the libral art system, where student have much more chance to interact and learn from professors compare to many top UK schools.
• In general, even account for the out of pocket maximum for healthcare, many U.S. job still pays more than their U.K. counterpart. This means saving money in the U.S. and later move to a lower income country is easier than saving money in a lower income country and later move to the U.S. Working in the U.S. when I was young gives me more liberties and assets to move to other countries later in my life, if U.S. eventually collapse.

Instead of trying to feel good, make it good. Go forth and organize for the better future that you wish to see.

Maybe not the government, but look to the people.

I don't think there was much of a reason to ever be proud of it, if you're ashamed now. You can still be proud of what your fellow americans put out : on the culture and research fronts most notably... the US shines far, even though I hear the Trump admin hurt some universities.
But on the political level ? it's still the murderous empire it has been for the past 80 years, just a little more open about it

Accelerating EU integration through the threat of invading Greenland,Iceland and thus Greenland -> Denmark -> EU.

We've always excelled at terrorism.

As a fellow American, I'm going to make a big assumption here and advise you to engage with more people outside. Lemmings are great and all but we do not represent the real world. I can say this has helped me and man, am I worlds better for it.

Right now, the internet is quasi-weaponized against everyone's better mental health. A lot of people are being fed propaganda that aligns strongly with their beliefs, with many people being sucked into a narrow, amplified, and semi-fictional view of reality. You have to dig deep to find real journalism, facts, and then puzzle together a less biased worldview; few people are there to do any of that legwork for you these days. It's all exhausting and a recipe for mental illness if you do it constantly.

Instead, try to get out there and just talk to one person; better yet a stranger. Even if it's just smalltalk. Even if it's about the weather with a librarian or a checkout clerk. ANYONE. If you can make your way to a club, mutual-aid hub, local meetup, whatever... that's even better. The goal is to just verbalize with other humans. The rest will follow from there.

Being proud of countries or nationalities is inherently toxic and problematic. I never understood it.

Land of the free, fought against oppression, and force children to pledge allegiance.

Backwards ass shithole.

Uh, we have the best military, the best medicine, the best universities, broadest cultural reach... etc.

Life in liberal blue progressive areas, is highly desirable and really great, but it's very expensive.

It's just that you aren't getting access to any of it unless you're part of our social elite. If you're in the bottom 90% of the economic status, you are only ever going to get access to the middling/average stuff.

Grifting.

I was never nieve enough to think we are all equal. But I did think we where making progress in that direction and maybe we still are. But these last few years have been heart breaking

We are really, really good at making billionaires even richer while decreasing quality of life for the weak, lazy 99%. /s but sadly not really

Yeah, we are about to get served a big slice of humble pie so bring your appetite. The pain we are all experiencing is there to tell us we cannot continue the way we were. We had the option to change in the past but didn't because it was too hard, now there is no avoiding change.

Your goverment is making me appreciate my goverment a bit more for just being useless and boring.

Seems like more people are getting involved in direct action (against ICE). Starting around the time of Bernie's primary campaign in 2020, I've noticed the amount of people getting involved in mutual-aid-type stuff slowly growing. The US has been "helping" Ukraine with "lethal aid," though it's debatable that's the best way to help, and it's probably more about enriching arms manufacturers and making sure Ukraine is perpetually indebted to the US.

i'd say only americans that have cause to be proud of themselves are the ones who are actively opposing what is happening to your country.

Even if I knew of anything, I wouldn’t say so, for fear of some MAGA fuckwit seeing my comment and ruining things.

Nah it's been a shit hole for centuries, both culturally and politically. Fun fact most of my ancestors were in North America before the United States existed, hasn't stopped dipshits from trying to "Americanize" us.

The U.S. is a very nice place to live.

No.

Act like russian. You will be surprised that most of them don't support this war and their gov.

I am an American, I've never been "proud" of my country, pride is something weird. The United States still generates the most electricity from nuclear power, and we're starting to build more now, that's something good.

I'd say it has made most Americans stop taking democracy, or even sanity in our leaders, for granted. We've always looked out over the oceans at "them" and pitied those countries with crazy leaders and corruption and now it has taken roost here.

Take heart: There are far more of us than there are of them.

As an American, I will never have faith in or be proud of this country again. Simple as that. That ship has sailed.

AmeriKKKans are excellent at protecting rich pedophiles!!

Recently, the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline, the George Floyd riots, and Minneapolis pushing ICE out are magnificent examples of people coming together.

This isn’t uniquely American. But Americans can create community

There has been an increase interest in NATO and I believe they are working to contribute more to defense because they can no longer expect help from the USA.

Well the good news is that few of us are anywhere close to trumps orbit, there are still plenty of us doing good work making our communities a better place for everyone, even if some of us voted for trump tbh. A lotta bad but a lot of good too. And it's always good to have your passport up to date

Learn from post war Germany. There is no need to be proud of your country. It's all made up anyway. What do I have to do with 5 basketball players or 11 football players or whatever who just happen to speak my language? How can I be "proud" of their achievements? Doesn't make sense at all

If the "melting pot" actually does it's thing and reduces how many differences we see between ourselves and others, then... maybe kinda good?

crickets

Hockey, I guess?

America always was shit. You only felt proud out of, at best, ignorance.

This is a country that was built on slavery, racism, and genocide. None of that changed, it only changed forms.

Not an American, but I hear you make good blood clots. Bigly good blood clots. Some people say: the best. So let's put our hope in that. Let's make the blood clot great again.

Which country are you from?

what were you proud of?

Doing turds dirty framing it like that.

No

We do many amazing things every day in the fields of scientific and medical research. Unfortunately those are overshadowed by clickbait news looking for KK's latest calf implants and Trump's latest dementia-ism.

You still have more freedom of speech than UK.

The advertising industry.

The amount of venom in this thread is astounding. I'm close to leaving lemmy. The amount of hate people are spewing for shit that's not our fault is starting to get old.

Used to be proud of the US? Why? Because of what? The many wars they started all those years, the inequality, mass shootings, war crimes, crimes against humanity in the incarceration system and with immigrants, still legal slavery (when incarcerated), the corruption, or the abuse of power on the world stage? Because that's been happening at least since the second World War. You know, when they dropped not just one but two nukes.

Edit: seeing the dislikes people don't like to be called out for being the bully? The US isn't a turd going down the drain, the US is the modern day fascist regime doing a Hitler 101. And all Americans do is complain they can't do anything and are the victim while the rest of the world is set on fire by the pedophile tyrant they chose back into office after the first term disaster.

Stop complaining, use your fucking second amendment, it's the reason you kept it: rise up against a hypothetical tyranical regime. All those deaths during the years at school shootings etc. were all worth it apparently. Well go on then eh. Now you have one. Clean up your own mess.