Optical Allusionist

I have a poem that's on the blog a couple times called "Berlin". It's from a German boy's point of view during World War II. Well-written poem, but definitely not the perspective we usually find when talking about WWII. I wrote the poem for my creative writing class, to enter it into a school-wide writing contest. Since my class was hosting the contest, we got to rate the poems, essays, and short stories. The girl on my right said "Oh, wow, my favorite poem is number 10" (the number assigned to "Berlin") The girl in front of her, a friend of mine, replied, "Oh, the German one? Yeah, I thought it was okay, but I'd never vote for it, 'cause I'm just too pro-American." She said the same thing to me when she found out it was mine. What?? "Pro-American"? What does THAT mean? I guess, through her eyes, it means admitting that nothing America does is wrong. Manifest Destiny was justifiable. Using incendiary bombs against innocent civilians in small German cities was also justifiable. Oh, how about the Trail of Tears? "Well, y'know, it's bettered our life now because those dirty Injuns are where they oughta be! The reservations!! Andrew Jackson wasn't being racist! He was being, erm, sensible!" We like to think that when we go into a country, through our military, we are "freeing them". That they will worship us? "God bless America", right? Right. ?:( But who would dare say that the Germans were yelling "God bless America for blowing my child up with that fragmented grenade!" or "God bless America for burning my mother in the incendiary flames!" Shame on you for thinking that. Never expect a civilian to fall immediately in love with you, especially once you kill a loved one.

My feeling is that it's BETTER to say "Yeah, we're an okay country, but we can be better." To say, "This is what we're doing wrong, and let's change it!" My feeling is that it's ANTI-American (as in "works against the ideals America was founded on") to say, "oh yeah, we're perfect" because then we can't progress. I am not necessarily saying I think America is the best country. I think there are many, honestly, amazing countries, and there is no best. Many have both major flaws and major good things about these countries. Many European countries are just as just as America. Let's not forget that, eh? We're not the only ones on this Earth, and we don't have to believe we're perfect, to be "patriotic".