About the Welsh...

[Dysnomia]

If I was more patriotic I'd call myself American. However I'm really not these days.  Maybe it's just a phase, but I'm just not that impressed with things these days.  I used to be super patriotic, but these days I'm more proud of what my heritage is than where I live.  Which is really kinda depressing if you think about it.

I'm sure nobody was complaining about their meat tasting like whiskey, but you'll never convince me that it was a product of forethought.

Also....srsly, enough with the "we", unless you were born or lived a substantial portion of your life in Ireland. If you were or did, I apologize for unleashing my pet peeve on you.

My father is from Galway and I used to spend my summers in Ireland when I was growing up and staying with my grandparents. I also have an Irish passport along with my American one. I don't know if that is sufficient for your purposes but what I identify as isn't really something I'm about to let someone else do for me. No offense.

GOOD!  You shouldn't.  It pisses me off when people do that.   

[Freeky]

I am descended from a long line of royal hipsters, dating back 500 years, all the way to the nation of United Hipsterdom. We were driven out by our "contemporary" minded upstarts, after a long, bloodless persecution of our peoples. We became migratory until Great Britain got sick of how ironic we were and threw us out along with the puritans.

So suck it bitches, I'm a Hipster princess!

[E.O.T.]

If I was more patriotic I'd call myself American. However I'm really not these days.  Maybe it's just a phase, but I'm just not that impressed with things these days.  I used to be super patriotic, but these days I'm more proud of what my heritage is than where I live.  Which is really kinda depressing if you think about it.

I'm sure nobody was complaining about their meat tasting like whiskey, but you'll never convince me that it was a product of forethought.

Also....srsly, enough with the "we", unless you were born or lived a substantial portion of your life in Ireland. If you were or did, I apologize for unleashing my pet peeve on you.

My father is from Galway and I used to spend my summers in Ireland when I was growing up and staying with my grandparents. I also have an Irish passport along with my American one. I don't know if that is sufficient for your purposes but what I identify as isn't really something I'm about to let someone else do for me. No offense.

GOOD!  You shouldn't.  It pisses me off when people do that.   

i'd say mittens here, but i think it's sometimes cheap. heritage is somewhat everything - it's the human beneath the labels and categories. you can cattle crowd me, but i still have my family and they're more meaningful to me than the political slaughterhouses around me & why i'll keep kicking is because my kids look up to me as if i'm a god of some kind.

[East Coast Hustle]

If I was more patriotic I'd call myself American. However I'm really not these days.  Maybe it's just a phase, but I'm just not that impressed with things these days.  I used to be super patriotic, but these days I'm more proud of what my heritage is than where I live.  Which is really kinda depressing if you think about it.

I'm sure nobody was complaining about their meat tasting like whiskey, but you'll never convince me that it was a product of forethought.

Also....srsly, enough with the "we", unless you were born or lived a substantial portion of your life in Ireland. If you were or did, I apologize for unleashing my pet peeve on you.

My father is from Galway and I used to spend my summers in Ireland when I was growing up and staying with my grandparents. I also have an Irish passport along with my American one. I don't know if that is sufficient for your purposes but what I identify as isn't really something I'm about to let someone else do for me. No offense.

GOOD!  You shouldn't.  It pisses me off when people do that.   

There's no reason NOT to be proud of your heritage (unless you're Welsh), and there's no reason not to be ashamed of many of the things your country is doing (unless your country is one of those insipidly nice Scandihoovian nations), but you're still an American with (whatever) heritage, rather than actually being (nationality your grandpappy gave up on). I mean, hell, my homeland is on the UN list of non-self governing territories and if it ever became an independent country, I'd give up my US citizenship, but right now, I'm still an American, like it or not.

[Dysnomia]

I just hate calling myself that for some reason.  I'd much prefer to identify myself with my heritage, or just identify myself as a person, or something than walk around going "I'm an AMMURRIKAN".  Perhaps if we become a less douchy country I'll change my status.

[Suu]

Just saying, having ancestry of something doesn't make you that thing. Otherwise, fuck it, we're all East African.

TITCM.

[East Coast Hustle]

well, you can CALL yourself whatever you want. I can call myself "Lord Hurkleburk the 3rd, ruler of Transylvania", but it doesn't change the reality, which is that you're an American and I'm a cook.

And anyway, America != the American Government. There are a whole lot of awesome things about this country which anyone who lives here should be proud of. Don't let a vocally idiotic minority obscure that fact.

[East Coast Hustle]

to elaborate further, you know how most polls show that a majority of Americans are actually reasonably progressive-thinking people who don't support scummy racist xenophobic policies, but then when we have elections, the rabid scumbags turn out in droves and the mostly progressive-thinking people can't be bothered to go vote, so we end up with politicians who really aren't representative of who we are as a nation? If those mostly progressive-thinking people took as much pride in being reasonable and informed and politically active as the teabaggers and their forerunners take in being rabidly ignorant, you might not have the dilemma of not wanting to take pride in your country. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's not about being a rabid nationalist, it's about saying "hey, assholes, this is MY country too and I'm not going to give up on it and disconnect myself thereby allowing you loudmouthed backwards assclowns to dominate the agenda to the further detriment of everyone."

[Suu]

When I have a conversation with a foreigner, I say I'm American. I don't say I'm a 3rd generation Italian. Or that my English line goes back to some of the original English settlers of New York and Long Island in the 1600s to make me sound special. No. It makes me sound like a stuck up nerd. If they inquire as to my ethnic heritages, sure, but as far as my nationality goes, I'm American, no hyphens about it.

[Suu]

to elaborate further, you know how most polls show that a majority if Americans are actually reasonably progressive-thinking people who don't support scummy racist xenophobic policies, but then when we have elections, the rabid scumbags turn out in droves and the mostly progressive-thinking people can't be bothered to go vote, so we end up with politicians who really aren't representative of who we are as a nation? If those mostly progressive-thinking people took as much pride in being reasonable and informed and politically active as the teabaggers and their forerunners take in being rabidly ignorant, you might not have the dilemma of not wanting to take pride in your country. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

We're a pretty progressive thinking country...just our media doesn't want the rest of the world to know about it.

[East Coast Hustle]

Our media runs on the "squeaky wheel gets the grease" model.

[Suu]

Precisely.

But as long as people REALLY don't want to do anything about it...


I have to admit, like everyone else, I've done my fair share of bitching about this country, but I don't think I could easily live anywhere else. I've been spoiled, I know this.

[Dysnomia]

I hope you aren't getting the idea that I'm one of those people who's so angsty that they don't vote.  Because I do, and just did in fact.  It is true we do lots of great things, but our recent behavior pisses me off to the point where unless I'm, as Suu illustrated, on a trip to another country I'm not going to walk around calling myself an AMMERICKAN.  While I'm here it's kinda a given, that I don't tend to push because I've been a bit embarrassed of some of our political maneuvers lately.

Not that I think it's any better to be part welsh or anything...

[Dysnomia]

If I didn't have hrosie of doom, I'd absolutely be a globetrotter.  Unfortunately, he doesn't really fit in my suitcase.   

[East Coast Hustle]

yeah, my train of thought really wasn't directed at you, it just sprung from the conversation at hand. You don't strike me as the angsty type.