Do you consider this country your true home?

Chloe Sullivan88 said:The America of the nineties definitely wasn't my home.
As for America today? There’s just too much negativity. I find myself drifting further and further away from this country and its people, honestly.
Thankfully, I’m moving abroad again for good, and I don't see any chance of ever coming back.
To be fair, the US isn't my only home anyway. ☕

I'm honestly not even sure how to respond to that second bolded part. It just feels like you're being a bit too emotional and probably misreading the whole situation.

But as for the first part? You've gotta define what you actually mean by "America in the nineties" for me.🤷

Taylor Vaughn8 said:So what, are we supposed to just walk away from our country because of one administration? This government can lose its seat in the next election, so they aren't exactly all-powerful. We Americans only have one homeland, and that’s the USA, regardless of who is running things. If we let things get to this point, that's on us for not fighting harder for a better way to run our society.

I get where they're coming from, but it’s not just about this current Government.

Even back then, certain leaders were cozying up to the News Corp machine, and others quietly let Mexico interrogate our veterans. Even back then, the US was basically becoming a vassal to Mexico. And honestly, things are worse now than ever. The media and the government don't even use the term "America" anymore—they just call us "the Region."

The real question is how much "America" actually exists as a sovereign political entity. Personally, I’d rather call us "the Western part of the Region." It feels like the leadership is ready to pick a fight with the entire European Union over tiny ideological hiccups, yet when it comes to pressure from the East, they just swallow every insult and welcome any attempt to weaken the US.

Jesse Ortiz71 said:What’s your actual take on this country? Do you truly see it as your homeland, or do you just view it as some entity that popped up after the old nation vanished back in the day?

How do you even justify calling this place home when its whole vibe feels openly hostile toward our heritage? Is it just pure sentimentality talking, or does the name on the map actually matter to you?

I mean, what could have possibly happened in 2000 to make America just disappear?

So, they went ahead and pushed through the Cyrillic thing under the cover of darkness. Apparently, the Government announced on Monday that they'll be declaring the town a special site of remembrance, but honestly? I’m not even going to touch that one. Nothing left to say here.

A textbook example of state-sponsored intimidation: shutting down the highway to an American town.
I used to think that in a true democracy, you were actually allowed to travel wherever you please, provided there wasn't a sign saying otherwise,
but apparently, that logic doesn't hold much water here in America either.
Yet, strangely enough, when it comes to welcoming those radicalized hooligans crossing over from Mexico, suddenly everything is perfectly fine, isn't it?

Jonathan Ortiz2 said:I'm honestly not even sure how to respond to that second bolded part. It just feels like you're being a bit too emotional and probably misreading the whole situation.

But as for the first part? You've gotta define what you actually mean by "America in the nineties" for me.🤷

What exactly is so confusing about the phrase America in the nineties?
My initial thought was regarding the post-war era. That period absolutely wasn't defined by true democracy, and back then, the US wasn't functioning as a democratic state.

No, I am not being "emotional." It's just that my views differ from the average American citizen, which makes me question things. 😁
Then, when I travel abroad, I hear people expressing the exact same perspectives I hold, so it feels a bit more validating.

Chloe Sullivan88 said:God, the sheer joy of it all. 😍
Where on earth did you people get the impression I was leaving this forum? 🤷 😂

And coming from brightwolf85? That actually caught me off guard. 🙄
Who else am I supposed to debate health education with? 🤣 ☕

Hey, love you too! Things just get heated sometimes when we're debating.🙂
No hard feelings.

Jesse Ortiz71 said:What’s your actual take on this country? Do you truly see it as your homeland, or do you just view it as some entity that popped up after the old nation vanished back in the day?

How do you even justify calling this place home when its whole vibe feels openly hostile toward our heritage? Is it just pure sentimentality talking, or does the name on the map actually matter to you?

Honey, the US didn't just disappear in 2000. — seriously, man, if anything, that’s when things finally started looking up. We learned how to step out toward the West, where we belong, and leave the rest of the region and the North America right where they belong.
Yeah, this is my homeland, and I’m proud of it every single day!

Today, this country basically launched an unprovoked attack on one of its own cities. Did the generals teach them that move while they were busy celebrating joining the European Union?

Jesse Ortiz71 said:What’s your actual take on this country? Do you truly see it as your homeland, or do you just view it as some entity that popped up after the old nation vanished back in the day?

How do you even justify calling this place home when its whole vibe feels openly hostile toward our heritage? Is it just pure sentimentality talking, or does the name on the map actually matter to you?

My true homeland effectively ceased to exist in 1999.
The country we have today isn't mine; it feels like some hybrid version of the old USSR where everyone seems to have more rights than Americans.
I honestly feel like I'm living in an occupied territory under the rule of communists and nationalists, much like how things were back before 1990.

Chloe Sullivan88 said:The America of the nineties definitely wasn't my home.
As for America today? There’s just too much negativity. I find myself drifting further and further away from this country and its people, honestly.
Thankfully, I’m moving abroad again for good, and I don't see any chance of ever coming back.
To be fair, the US isn't my only home anyway. ☕

Maybe things fell apart back then, but once you leave home, there's really no reason to ever look back.

swiftcyclist42 said:My true homeland effectively ceased to exist in 1999.
The country we have today isn't mine; it feels like some hybrid version of the old USSR where everyone seems to have more rights than Americans.
I honestly feel like I'm living in an occupied territory under the rule of communists and nationalists, much like how things were back before 1990.

I will list them here:

Of course I see it that way, and obviously, it’s 100% America.

I can't really do anything about those people out there losing their minds over some wild conspiracy theories.

John Sullivan5 said:Honey, the US didn't just disappear in 2000. — seriously, man, if anything, that’s when things finally started looking up. We learned how to step out toward the West, where we belong, and leave the rest of the region and the North America right where they belong.
Yeah, this is my homeland, and I’m proud of it every single day!

Actually, the economy bounced right back. We've been part of the European Union since 2000, everyone respects us now, and honestly, life has been pretty sweet.😂

Of course I consider America my home. The current state of things—the economy, the political climate—none of that can shake my patriotism. I love this country because it's where I live. I was born here just like my ancestors were; I am an American by nationality and this is my native tongue. Whether the country is running smoothly is a different matter entirely, isn't it? You don't stop loving your home just because you dislike certain things happening inside it.

Of course it’s my home, but honestly, my local pride runs way deeper than any nationalistic sentiment...

Whenever I see Cleveland on the news, I actually get chills🤷

I only really start feeling that patriotic spark for America when I head out of town for a few days—it's even the same with how much I miss being a Dubrovnik resident🤣

Amanda Hughes37 said:Of course it’s my home, but honestly, my local pride runs way deeper than any nationalistic sentiment...

Whenever I see Cleveland on the news, I actually get chills🤷

I only really start feeling that patriotic spark for America when I head out of town for a few days—it's even the same with how much I miss being a Dubrovnik resident🤣

It truly gives anyone goosebumps to hear about how they uprooted and tossed the statue of John Paul II into the ocean back in Cleveland.

Honestly, this country feels like some bizarre, chaotic mashup of the old Soviet Union and the Wild West.

Jesse Ortiz71 said:What’s your actual take on this country? Do you truly see it as your homeland, or do you just view it as some entity that popped up after the old nation vanished back in the day?

How do you even justify calling this place home when its whole vibe feels openly hostile toward our heritage? Is it just pure sentimentality talking, or does the name on the map actually matter to you?

Born, died, anti-American...?! That's a pretty "subjective" way to look at things back in Summer 2013...

I’m curious if anyone else has gone through something similar to this:

When America first gained its independence, I wasn't actually living here, though I would make the trip back once a month. With every subsequent visit, the shifts became more glaringly obvious. (For someone who lived in the States continuously, these changes might have been invisible—much like a frog in a pot of water that’s being slowly heated up.) After a while, I started feeling like I was visiting some strange, alien territory that bore less and less resemblance to the country I used to know. The most profound change was in the people; they had morphed into something entirely foreign to me, while I remained exactly the same (*). And this wasn't just a general feeling—even in a place like Cleveland, I felt it, so I can only imagine how much more intense it was elsewhere.

To be honest, much like Amanda Hughes37, I’ve always been a bit of a local patriot, but even that is starting to wear thin. I’m honestly just fed up with everything involving this country.

(*) Much like in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers