What Does it Mean to be an American? | Politics with Paul #100

With this being the 100th episode of the podcast and falling around the 250th anniversary of American independence, today's discussion is about one of the most critical questions of all: What exactly is being an American about? I'm not talking about the legal implications or pop culture. This is about the essence of the American spirit, and the basic promise of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. This is about what American values are, free from partisan and ideological rhetoric. This is a call to civic renewal and to be good stewards of America to our fellow citizens and the people of the world. We can love our country and its foundational ideals while honestly appraising its flaws and the times it has come up short of fulfilling those ideals. Join me in this conversation   and tell me what being an American means to you. 00:00 Celebrating 100 Episodes: A Journey of Civic Education 03:45 Criteria for Being "American"? What are American Values? 07:36 Balancing Individualism vs. Collectivism 11:16 Un-American Actions vs. Having Un-American Values 15:04 Unclear Definition of American? A Strength and Weakness 18:54 Historical Writings on Being an American 23:45 The Uniqueness of Being American 27:50 America's Relationship with the World 31:40 Americans' Relationship with Each Other 35:50 What Separates Patriotism from Nationalism, Jingoism 39:01 Our Feelings About America as Americans 44:40 My Take On What Being an American is 51:00 Closing, Thank You to My Previous Guests Other Works FREE 5-day educational email course on how to fight polarization: https://detoxifyamericanpolitics.com/ Buy my book about political independents: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Independen... Medium articles on elections and political science:   / paulrader-42650   Media LinkedIn:   / paulrader352   My website: https://paulrader.org/ Facebook:   / paulraderwrites   Email: [email protected]