Being Proud
I was laying in bed this morning, not wanting to get out of my cozy bed and into my 64 degree house (we're cheap) but no longer sleeping. For some reason I started thinking about what I'm proud of, and that got me to thinking how much I dislike it when people are proud of certain things.
For example, I am proud of my education and intelligence. I worked and work hard to learn things, and now I have years and years of knowledge stored up. I think it is reasonable to be proud of this. But only recently has society started recognizing the "nerds" of the world, and only recently has it started being acceptable to be proud of intelligence outside of places such people were concentrated. But even now, educated people are sometimes scorned (like in politics) or used as the butt of a joke (like in Big Bang Theory, which I love but really is just a series of "Ha ha, look at the nerds" jokes). Why? Those people worked for that education. How much work does it take to be ignorant? Why in the world would anyone be proud of their ignorance? It makes no sense.
Another thing that people are proud of that makes no sense to me is being American. If you were born here, you are American. Period. How much did you contribute to your attainment of citizenship? Nothing. So what is there to be proud of? Now if you were not born here, and worked through the shitload of bureaucracy, tests, and discrimination to attain your American citizenship, you should be proud. That's a monumental task, you accomplished it through your sweat and tears - everyone should be in awe of you. But those WASPs that have American flags everywhere and rant about the pride they have because they're American and WE'RE THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD...I just want to hit them sometimes. Now, if you want to be proud of something your country DID that you, as a taxpayer and voter, indirectly contributed to...maybe. But just being proud to be something you were born makes no sense to me.
For example, I am proud of my education and intelligence. I worked and work hard to learn things, and now I have years and years of knowledge stored up. I think it is reasonable to be proud of this. But only recently has society started recognizing the "nerds" of the world, and only recently has it started being acceptable to be proud of intelligence outside of places such people were concentrated. But even now, educated people are sometimes scorned (like in politics) or used as the butt of a joke (like in Big Bang Theory, which I love but really is just a series of "Ha ha, look at the nerds" jokes). Why? Those people worked for that education. How much work does it take to be ignorant? Why in the world would anyone be proud of their ignorance? It makes no sense.
Another thing that people are proud of that makes no sense to me is being American. If you were born here, you are American. Period. How much did you contribute to your attainment of citizenship? Nothing. So what is there to be proud of? Now if you were not born here, and worked through the shitload of bureaucracy, tests, and discrimination to attain your American citizenship, you should be proud. That's a monumental task, you accomplished it through your sweat and tears - everyone should be in awe of you. But those WASPs that have American flags everywhere and rant about the pride they have because they're American and WE'RE THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD...I just want to hit them sometimes. Now, if you want to be proud of something your country DID that you, as a taxpayer and voter, indirectly contributed to...maybe. But just being proud to be something you were born makes no sense to me.