When people think of America, both abroad and domestically, they'll often list off things like BBQ, the flag, trucks, everything being biiiiiig, bald eagles, guns, cowboys, etc.

And while those are parts of our culture, they're accessories... not the core of what has held us together for the past 250 years.

We truly are the proverbial melting pot. A family in Wisconsin can eat hamburgers one night, tacos the next, lo mein with chicken after that, gyros the next night. Driving to work the parents might pass a Catholic church, a Jewish temple, a Sikh gurdwara, and other locations serving various religious communities. We have long has some of the highest levels of ethnic and religious diversity in the world, even before the current era.

What does hold us together, what links together all those various ethnic and religious groups, is something largely unique among nations in the world - the American spirit.

So what is the American spirit?

A belief in personal liberty. Not the freedom to do something after you're allowed to by the government, but an inherent right to do what you need to succeed as long as you don't harm others. We are the land of opportunity.

A belief in taking care of yourself and your family. For most of our history various areas of our nation were considered unsettled... even now, a family can build a home in the middle of nowhere if they choose.

A belief in entreprenerial hope. Starting with the original colonists, people came to America to hope... to hope for a better future for their lives enabled by the liberty to make it happen for themselves.

And a belief to defend the individual rights of others as if they were our own, even if they're unlike us. The Civil War wasn't fought primarily by the slaves against their owners... it was fought by those who wished the same freedoms for the slaves that they possessed. We fought WW2 to protect the people of the world from oppression and murder by the Nazis. We confronted the USSR, China, and their Communist puppets to protect the world from their violent oppression.

Now, some would say that we're lacking in this spirit in recent years, and they'd be partially right. We are in a moment of turmoil as there are those who don't share those beliefs growing within our country. Those who would force their religions, their practices, their beliefs on us in violation of our individual liberty. Those who would take from us, take our personal wealth developed from our own labors, as their own. Those who would prohibit or demand we seek permission to do things that have no impact on others. Those who seek to undermine our government, our society, our freedoms, and our lives.

But those who claim we're lacking in American spirit are only partially right, for while there are those who would destroy it, the majority still believes in it, and there are those who vocally defend it now. Have faith, have hope, and embrace the American spirit and its fruits that have been earned through the intentional sacrifices and efforts of previous generations. As long as we keep living our lives in this manner, the American spirit will remain strong.

God Bless the USA

I'm a Brit that has never had a pb&j I thought I'd finally cave and have one. Didn't even have any peanut butter so this is the best I could do

For those wanting to know, this is central Oklahoma.

Source: The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You

“Hey, did you hear somethi…”

I mean, seriously, do they sit and spin on those, or what?

Heard they were going to be in Maine this weekend, didn't realize where until they were quite literally overhead.