Guns, Guts, and Denial.

What does it mean to be an American(United States)?

5 min readJun 3, 2022

It’s a question we all have to ask ourselves at one point or another when we grow up in the USA. Currently, we find ourselves at a crossroads between two ideologies and forces of nature. Does it seem we all need to pick a side and ask ourselves what it means to be American? For many, the American ideal is summed up as guns and guts. In many people’s minds that is what makes a person American, but denial is now as much a part of that culture as the Red, White, and Blue is.

What is it to be an American?

I think being an American embodies a great many things and a great many ideas. Some think of apple pie and baseball, while some think of bombs dropping and slavery. Being an American and what it means to all of us is different.

Photo by Life Matters: https://www.pexels.com/photo/protesters-with-arms-raised-4614143/

The idea varies depending on everything about a person. It could be their family, location, religion, skin color, income, and many other factors it doesn't matter. The United States isn’t just a country but an idea and an ideal, that changes and evolves for everyone living here.

There isn’t one idea of our country that is right or wrong as long as the idea is from a person living here. It doesn’t matter where they grew up here in the states or how much money one has or the color of their skin. Whatever the opinion and idea of America are as long as it comes from someone living in this country it should be a valid opinion.

If we begin to recognize anothers' points of view as valid to them and therefore an understandable perspective we can hopefully start to move towards solutions to a great many problems.