America must keep striving for greatness
Guinness World Records has certified a record for the 600-by-900-foot portrayal of the U.S. flag by Fireworks by Grucci on Sept. 13, 2014, in Baltimore to honor the 200th anniversary of "The Star Spangled Banner." Credit: Fireworks by Grucci / Christopher Gamboni
The other day I was at my gym in Oceanside. It was the morning after Election Day and an elderly gentleman on an exercise bike next to me was watching the election results on a TV on the wall.
I asked for his reaction. He waved a hand in the air and responded, "Eh," in a dejected way.
"Are you one of those people who wants to leave the country?" I asked.
He responded with the same gesture.
Next, pointing to the screen, he said, "None of these people can earn an honest day's living. It's the unskilled who get into politics."
He was clearly disillusioned. When George W. Bush was elected in 2000, a native-born colleague of mine quit his job and moved to France. The man was not a fan of Bush and was bothered by the controversial way he became president despite losing the popular vote.
Such a reaction was new to me. I never thought anybody would want to leave the United States. I had only seen people who would give anything to come here.
Later in the gym I ran into an 85-year-old acquaintance who seemed happy with the election results.
Normally, I am the first one to express my disapproval when an immigrant bad-mouths the United States. Yet, when this native-born acquaintance said, "America is the best country in the world," I retorted that I wouldn't make this claim without knowing enough about other cultures and countries. In their own ways, I added, most countries are the best in some things and not so good in others. I had just returned from spending a few weeks in Europe.
My friend got defensive and said that everything he reads, sees and hears has convinced him that the United States is the best country in the world.
I asked whether he had heard of "confirmation bias," the tendency to consume information that agrees with your view.
"No!" he said. (I suggested that he look it up, and he said he would.)
Wanderlust is in my DNA. Travel expands my mind. But as much as I like to experience other cultures, every time I return home to Long Island -- a piece of heaven to me -- I say to myself that this beautiful island has everything that brochures try to sell to potential travelers: beaches galore, beautiful weather (mostly), and proximity to one of the world's cultural capitals. It seems silly to go anywhere else.
As an immigrant, I probably walk on thin ice when I am too outspoken. Yet I believe that the day an individual, an institution or a nation feels she, he or it has reached his, her or its zenith, the potential for growth dies. I am afraid that if too many folks think like my 85-year-old friend at the gym, the United States will stop striving to reach its full potential.
Reader Rohini B. Ramanathan lives in Oceanside.
