Ripples in a Pond

We're often told that there has been more progress in the last 50 years than there has been in all of human history up until this point. As technology has advanced so too has mankind's ability to interact with each other expanded in ways previously thought impossible. I bet my grandparents never expected that I would be able to carry a live, face-to-face conversation with one of my best friends four thousand miles away when they were my age! With this kind of technology at our finger tips, and myriad other advances in technology, who could be surprised at the globalization that is currently underway? It's not just conversations with long distance friends were talking about here. It's eating a Big Mac in South Africa, wearing a shirt made in China, and the establishment of democracy in third-world countries.

Few would argue that this globalization is not a product of modern western culture. But, if the ripples are moving ever outward from this culture, how could one born at its center be affected by it?

Throw a large rock into a small pond and it will send ripples outward in every direction. If this pond is perfectly round and there are no obstructions the ripples will continue to the edge of the pond and more or less stop there. But place a few obstacles in the pond and the ripples will bounce back to some degree off the obstacles. Being born at the heart of western culture I was initially unaware of it's global impact. But it wasn't too long until some of those ripples bounced back.

As a missionary in England something very quickly became apparent to me: everyone I spoke to had an opinion about the United States and Americans in general. Opinions are normal, but ask someone in the heart of Louisiana how they feel about England (or Nicaragua, or Taiwan!) and I can't imagine that they will have particularly strong feelings about any of them. But this was different. Everyone didn't just have an opinion, they had a strong opinion. Positive. Negative. Very little in between. Some loved the United States, others seemed offended by apparently nothing other than our very existence. Why? Because no matter where you go, western culture, and especially American culture has some influence, and where there is influence there must be some reaction to it.

I realized that I wasn't experiencing this for the first time, only at much closer range. In fact, through globalized media, I had always been aware that in the mind of citizens of other countries, my Americanism had never been a neutral. At no point could I think that my identity as an American was without weight. I had always had eyes watching me and my culture and I knew it.

So, how has this affected ME? How am I different because of these circumstances?

Well--I'm an American!

I am not just an American, I'm proud to be American. Under the watchful eye of the world and the flurried mixture of criticism as well as praise, some have turned on their national heritage, feeling disdain for the United States. I on the other hand, have only been strengthened in my patriotism. With the fall of the virtual walls between nations and peoples, I have seen where I stand, and decided that there's nowhere else I'd rather be. I think and behave in a fundamentally different way, hyper-aware of where I come from and what I stand for. They say the grass is greener always greener on the other side, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm already there.