The Top 100 Reasons Why I Love America
Photo by U.S. federal government (Ketanji Brown Jackson) and NASA (Eugene Cernan)
Here we are, 246 years after the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain. I reject anti-Americanism, and I declare that I love America. These are my reasons.
Note: In order to view this list in its entirety, with video clips we included, please view it on The Berlin Spectator’s website. For technical reasons, this version does not include the clips.
Berlin, July 4th, 2022 (The Berlin Spectator) — It is not all positive. The treatment of the Native Americans, slavery, some interventions and wars, including Vietnam, were wrong. There are issues today too: Donald Trump almost succeeded in destroying America's democracy, but he has not been held accountable until today. The guns are one of biggest problems. So is the level of racism and similar forms of hatred.
Good Stuff
But this is not about the bad things. This is not about Watergate, McCarthy or McVeigh. This is not about America's obsession with nuclear energy, fracking in nature reserves or the latest attack on women by extremists in the Supreme Court. This is not about root beer or other examples of bad taste. Hey! This is Independence Day, and it is all about the good stuff, right?
Ready for the top 100 reasons why I love America? Their order is random. Here we go:
1
The Original Sesame Street
2
The beaches of Delaware
3
"What Do People Do All Day" by Richard Scarry
4
The Blue Note in Manhattan
5
Those old and rundown motels all over the place, with their unique atmosphere
6
NASA's activities at Kennedy Space Center
7
Those real hamburger places where you can add all the tomato and onion slices you want
8
The musicals, Broadway and all of that
9
The ivy league colleges and other great universities
10
Jennifer Hudson's version of America's National Anthem
11
Pentagon City Mall in Arlington, Virginia
12
Smooth rides on the clean and cool Metro in the District of Columbia
13
The late Jack Lemmon
14
America's stance at the UNHRC and other United Nations bodies
15
Airplane watching at the park next to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, right at the Potomac river banks
16
Memories of New York City in the late 1970s
17
Michael Douglas' speech in "The American President"
18
Those huge breakfasts at American diners
19
Chocolate chip cookies
20
American humor in general
21
Talking to Amish at the markets they sell they produce at, in German
22
"All that Jazz" (both the music genre and the movie of this title, starring the late Roy Scheider and Jessica Lange)
23
The Golden Globes and the Academy Awards
24
Soul tunes of the late 1970s, with their expensive arrangements
25
Taking walks in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia
26
The late Don Rickles, who delivered 'insult comedy' for decades
27
Creamy peanut butter made in the U.S.
28
The late activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner and other good Americans
29
The impression that Americans are a little less politically correct than us Europeans
30
"Narrow Margin" with Gene Hackman and Anne Archer
31
Getting lost in the northeastern part of the D.C.
32
Purchasing milk in one-gallon containers
33
Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco
34
All of these political movies made in the late 1970s, including "Missing" and "The China Syndrome"
35
The custom of munching hamburgers while attending Jazz concerts
36
American apple pie
37
Amy Gutmann, America's new Ambassador to Germany
38
Sojourner Truth, the late abolitionist and women's rights activist
39
Route 66 and the dream of following it in its entirety in a camper van
40
The smell of Cincinnati's streets after the rain
41
The energetic and convincing way Americans present the news on electronic media
42
Californian apple cider
43
Good Republicans such as Nikki Haley and John Kasich
44
Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman"
45
The American approach to dating
46
The late artist James Rizzi
47
Denzel Washington's work
48
All the swearing, especially among men
49
America's huge contribution to the Allies' victory over Nazi Germany
50
American AOR ('Adult-Oriented Rock')
51
The way Americans build houses within a few hours
52
The fact that The United States generally is a good place for Jews
53
The museums in Washington D.C.
54
The multi-instrumentalist and composer Patrice Rushen
55
The late Eugene Cernan, who was the last man on the Moon
56
Trips on the Interstate 95 from the D.C. to NYC
57
The American-German storyteller Gayle Tufts
58
The Democratic President William Jefferson Clinton from Little Rock, Arkansas
59
60
The Mexican American comedian George Lopez
61
The Mexican American musician Carlos Santana and his band
62
America's stance on Israel under Bush I, Clinton, Bush II and even Trump
63
The actress Rene Russo
64
The country's diversity, in many ways
65
America's support for the free part of Bosnia and Hercegovina in 1995
66
The politeness many Americans show
67
The sounds of Earth, Wind and Fire, the best band in the world, especially the stuff they recorded from 1976 to 1981
68
The fact that many apartments are being rented out with carpeting and all amenities
69
The national U.S. version of CNN
70
The size of those steaks they offer at Safeway in Virginia
71
The Birchmere in Annapolis, Maryland
72
Dulles Airport in Virginia, its retro style and atmosphere
73
American Cheddar cheese
74
American Cranberry juice
75
The late bass hero Louis Johnson
76
The Boeing 747, a former bestseller that helped us travel around the world
77
Michelle Obama, the attorney, author and former First Lady
78
The Ford LTD and other huge 1970s cars propelled by V8 engines
79
The singer Denice Brooks
80
Chinatown, in New York and San Francisco and elsewhere
81
Martin Luther King
82
Baby books by Sandra Boynton
83
The fact that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson just became the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
84
Drive-in banks and drive-in everything
85
The international restaurants in Washington D.C.'s Adams Morgan neighborhood
86
Yosemite National Park in California
87
The percussion heroes Sheila and Pete Escovedo
88
The way America cools down the air substantially with a gazillion A/Cs
89
Brilliant American musicians and composers who are not with us anymore, including Charles Stepney, George Duke, Maurice White, Minnie Riperton and Janis Joplin
90
The late comedians George Carlin and Richard Pryor
91
America's knowhow in regard to shows and presentation
92
American inventions, including the telephone, the radio and the metal zipper
93
The movie "Heat" (1995) and countless other great thrillers made in America
94
Kosher Chinese food in Cedarhurst, New York
95
The late President John F. Kennedy
96
The late actor Sidney Poitier
97
The late Democrat Madeleine Albright
98
The satirical newspaper "The Onion"
99
The gas prices in the U.S., which are still good compared to Europe
100
Dog walking in Prospect Park, Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York