I am not proud to be an Australian, as I am not proud to be a human being...I just am one, and I am content to be myself. I feel I'm lucky to have been born post WW2 in Australia, for sure...but luck and pride are different things. The problem with applying pride to nationality is obvious. To me, it is especially obvious when analysing what the USA does in the world. I think those born in the same epoch as I was, but in America, were also quite lucky, in general, compared to those who have to grow up and live in either of these two countries now. These are different nations, for sure, America is a world power ​in every way ​and Australia is a world non-power​ in every way​. I think that with America the extra promises that came with the power just haven't been realised, for Americans at large and living now, and growing up now. There WAS massive wealth of a scale unseen before, quite a few times in the last 60 or so years in America, the burgeoning of Hi tech Creativity, and the Stock market...but this wondrous wealth was wasted on wars and on individuals and never filtered through to the growing population or anywhere away from the Great Cities......​that huge amount of money was wasted by Americans, rather than invested, in America, or in Americans. ​Thus things now can't be as good as they were in the huge countryside of America, nor will they be any better for many decades to come. Wealth can be worked towards, for sure, but it can't be re-imagined or created very fast. If the money has gone, it has gone forever. It is a long term thing. The opportunities that came with the massive wealth have gone without any investment in the country. That's the problem with America and why its people are really pissed off about pretty well everything...bad management of ​common ​wealth...and why its military is so intent on re-creating its hey-day of dominance, when its capacity to do that has passed. Looking back, I loved my life and being born in that very unique era of post WW2 Australia, but that time has passed, and the reality of a multi-polar high complex world is with us for the future. In the interim, America cannot be the world's policeman because, simply, America cannot afford to be, and because no one with any sense wants them to be​...just look at what they have done from the Korean failure onwards...​. Who would wish that on anyone? They will, as time goes by, just have to be normal. Being reasonably bright and competent, though juvenile, as a society, I think Americans can, in fact, learn they are dealing with equals everywhere now...and we are all facing quite a stretch of hard times. the only notion that runs against reality is a dredging up of past glories. There's nothing new in this phenomenon. After all, look around...England still believes it is a United Kingdom, and is proud of that. Pride is always there at the fall. I am not proud to be Australian at all, I'm just lucky being born when I was, knowing that this was a damn long time ago. I can be proud of myself, I can be proud of my family, I can be proud of where I came from, absolutely, but to be proud of what Australia is, or if I was American, to be proud of what America is, or truly stands for, no, I cannot do that nor respect it at all, and I'd be a fuckwit if I did.