Alien Nation

What is the nature of good citizenship?
Surely it is not only love of one's country. Horrible people love their country--it's the physical space whose conventions and myths encourage their bad behavior. I love America, in part, because it stands for boorishness; the nation allows me to say whatever I like about anyone I care to smear. It asks only that I use good sense; however, such a request is antithetical to the very concept. After all, anyone who would claim to dislike firetrucks, pie, and people with yellow ribbon stickers on their cars cannot be expected to tread carefully.
I digress. And I digress again: The country I love is a romantic fantasy. It is the America of hard lives and hard lessons, but in my version everything works out in the end. We admire and in turn are admired by the world. Underneath our bluster and posturing, the rest of humanity understands, there is a simple collective mind, always lumbering to aid those on the side of Right. That is, a cosmic "Right," a Jimmy Stewart Right. I don't think it's too much to ask. But then again, I'm not one of the horrible people in charge.

So what is the mark of true citizenship? Can it be sacrifice? It would be remarkable to see Americans, alone or collectively, abandon their suicidal devotion to individualism just long enough to do one selfless act. But, is that service to the nation? Is basic humanity patriotic? Common decency, I think, is not citizenship.

Perhaps the mark of a true citizen is his willingness to tear down the nation he loves; to destroy it in hopes that it will reemerge in a finer form. But would one do so from within or without? Do we flee America and take up elsewhere, hoping not to be crushed by the long tentacles of the USA; or do we remain, dig in with both feet, and hope not to be crushed underneath the urban assault vehicles?

I suppose the ultimate question is: would it be more than a betrayal of faith to leave?