u/Interesting_Side6095

I believe that, regardless of what’s happening now, the world would be very different without the USA, and I don’t think it would’ve been for the better.

To me, even though I’ve never been to the USA or been born there, I feel like I belong to it in some way. Maybe it’s because I grew up virtually. I spent most of my time in my imagination and my thoughts. I’d spend hours imagining myself in a different family, living a different life, and eventually that imagination became so real that it feels like I grew up in that place in my mind. It became a part of me, even if it only existed in my head.

Besides that, almost everything I was surrounded by virtually was American in some shape or form. The movies I watched, the games I played, the music I listened to, the people I met online, the way I learned to think about certain things, and even the English I learned as a native language. Whether I realized it or not, it all left a big impression on me and slowly shaped who I became.

I know America isn’t perfect, and it never has been. Probably no country will ever be. But when I think about America, I don’t only think about politics or whoever happens to be in office. I think about its people, its culture, its ideals, and everything it has contributed to the world.

Even if it isn’t perfect, it has the potential to be. It is where the world is the most united. Many people around the world has some attachment to it, and that common factor among most of the people on the planet is the closest our species has ever been to being connected. It might seem silly, but platforms such as Instagram or TikTok, which look ridiculous, feel like a close community, even if they consist of more than a billion people.
All those people recognize the same things and bond over them regardless of cultural, linguistic, or religious barriers. When billions of people laugh at the same jokes, watch the same movies, listen to the same music, and communicate in a common language, they start seeing one another less as strangers.
That doesn’t eliminate conflict, but it creates shared experiences that previous generations never had. It shows that us, the people, and humanity as a whole have the potential for a better future. That gives me hope and a will to live, even though it's silly.

I wouldn’t want it to be any other way, because then I wouldn’t be myself. All those experiences became part of who I am, and I genuinely like who I am. So in a way, even if I’ve never lived there, America still feels like a place where I could be a part of, a place where a better future might happen.

And I’m glad it’s not something I followed just because I was born into it, like most people who see themselves as part of a country simply because they happened to be born there. The same goes for religion, language, and so many other things.
This is something I chose because I genuinely felt like I belonged to it. It’s not just an attachment; it’s part of my identity. It’s me.

It isn’t who people expected me to be or wanted me to become. It’s who I chose to be. And because that choice came from me, it means more than if it had simply been decided for me from the day I was born.