Californian, American, World Citizen

July 4, 2006

Strong feelings for the places that nourished one are natural. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Redlands, California. I am from a place, and my informal habits and mental assumptions were partially formed by that place. I am, thus, a Californian.. and will tend to root for sports teams from California to beat those from other states.

Likewise, a degree of national patriotism seems unavoidable. I am going to root for American teams in international events such as the Olympics and World Cup (hopeless as the latter may be). I am American.. that is, I partake of a whole series of values and ideals that stem from a national identity.. a shared history and similar occupations.

My national identity is a couple of steps stronger than my local identity.. but it is not qualitatively different. That is to say: being an American is a lot like being a Californian. I think it is a rhetorical trick to elevate patriotism into some kind of absolute value.. or absolute debt.

After a national identity I recognize that I belong to the world. If being a citizen of the world may have seemed an abstract concept a couple of centuries ago, when travel to some places on the globe could hardly be realistically hoped for.. today it is easy to grasp. Environmental change in one part of the globe is apt to show up elsewhere, just as political problems in one place can cause harm on the other side of the globe. All of us on this planet are bound together.

I am a Californian.. carrying (now) a Californian driver's license. I am American.. carrying an American passport. But where my real allegiance must always lie.. superseding anything I owe to America.. is with this earth. I am a citizen of the world. Somehow that statement sounds like heresy in today's political climate.. but why?

Despite George W. Bush's protest, I don't find it so "absurd" that people would fear the United States. A large part of my fear stems from the strength of this feeling we call "patriotism".. which does not resemble my notion of warm allegiance to home, but rather a mindset based on the acceptance of national doctrines: we are good; we know what is right; we are above the rules. The idea that America might turn back its plans.. because of a sense of responsibility to the world, is hard to imagine. Yet that is what we need.

The thought of having a child makes me think differently about the 4th of July. I want our son or daughter to know the thrill of fireworks and warm feelings for our history.. but I want him/her to always know that our allegiance is not to a nation.. but to this earth. If we come up against a choice that pits America vs. the earth.. the choice must be clear.