Being human, being American, being male, being white, these are all accidents of birth. There’s no reason to take pride in any of it.
Bring born in to a disaffected class of people, being gay, or a person of color, and overcoming that adversity to any measure of success, that merits some pride.
Almost everything about the situation you were born in to is an accident of birth.
As in, you had no hand in it. Your parents may or may not have had some say in the matter, but for the vast majority of Americans, they didn’t choose to be an American either. Any more than they chose the color of their skin or the texture of their hair.
If you’re the child of immigrants, or an immigrant yourself, then sure, be proud of the accomplishment. It was hard and they (or you) earned the right to be here. But for most of us, it’s just where we happened to be from.
I understand but I think we call pride also the sense of belonging to a chain of individuals that achieved growth of knowledge, rights, scientific discoveries and engineering results.
It is a meaning of the word that would easily lend itself to manipulation but also one that allowed individuals to contribute and to stand on the shoulders of giants.
In that sense, the highest level one would easily be being human.
Pride comes with accomplishment.
Being human, being American, being male, being white, these are all accidents of birth. There’s no reason to take pride in any of it.
Bring born in to a disaffected class of people, being gay, or a person of color, and overcoming that adversity to any measure of success, that merits some pride.
But just being human? Anybody can do that.
Being American isn’t necessarily an accident of birth.
Almost everything about the situation you were born in to is an accident of birth.
As in, you had no hand in it. Your parents may or may not have had some say in the matter, but for the vast majority of Americans, they didn’t choose to be an American either. Any more than they chose the color of their skin or the texture of their hair.
If you’re the child of immigrants, or an immigrant yourself, then sure, be proud of the accomplishment. It was hard and they (or you) earned the right to be here. But for most of us, it’s just where we happened to be from.
I understand but I think we call pride also the sense of belonging to a chain of individuals that achieved growth of knowledge, rights, scientific discoveries and engineering results.
It is a meaning of the word that would easily lend itself to manipulation but also one that allowed individuals to contribute and to stand on the shoulders of giants.
In that sense, the highest level one would easily be being human.