Sam Quinn Blog #1

What is a nation? Well I feel like everyone has provided some awesome answers and perspective with this first blog, and being one of the last posters means I will probably be reiterating many points. However, when I first think of what constitutes a nation, I think of the word unification. People can unite for many reasons: similar values or goals, freedom from oppression, familiarity amongst one another, or similarities shared between people. While unification does not always imply 'similarities' as a prerequisite to form an alliance/group/nation even, it can help to have a common background. In some nation's cases though, unification occurs simultaneously with independence and formal declaration of the formation of a nation: meaning that the first thing to unify residents is their linked involvement in this process, and later their role in determining the course of their nation.

Nations need many things to thrive. Usually, the first items that come to mind as requirements for a nation are a government, taxes, a defense system, laws and regulations, justice department, and marked citizens. Yet there is so much else that goes into DEFINING a nation. For example, think of all of the culture in America, or any other nation! The music, the dancing, the food, the things kids are taught to value in school, the way kids are told to act at home, the nuances behind daily interactions, holidays, and more! All of these things help distinguish nations form one another: they are what makes a country unique!

We should never forget to value these things...not only that, but we should never forget to continue to develop them, to make room for our culture to blossom, so that we can make ourselves proud of our nation.

When I went to Kenya over this past Winter Break, I saw a picture on the cover of a book titled America: 24/7. The Front cover had this photo on it:

This is America alright.

In all seriousness though, it made me wonder what we choose to emphasize about our culture, and what we make easy to stereotype about our nation. I wish sometimes we really were a melting pot, but even in our WM community I realize that this is not always the case. Nevertheless, when trying to explain what a nation is, this picture is not ideal to me when trying to describe America. I'm proud of our nation, not always, but I think we are more than blonde, blue eyed cowboys and girls--let's show the world the many sides of our nation, and the many sides to our culture.