Is serving your country a higher calling...?
Than serving your city or state/province?
No. Serving others is serving others. Offering your community protection and service is valuable regardless of the size of that community.
Is being a member of the military a more noble purpose than being, say, a firefighter or paramedic?
No. Not every member of the military is in it for the same purpose, and that's where nobility comes from--not from what you do, but from why and how you do it.
Further, would rather identify yourself by your nationality (Canadian, American, Brit, etc) or by your hometown or city or county?
I identify myself as a member of my family first. Grace's wife and Sissy's siter are my two most important roles in my life, and somebody's mommy will be added to that list eventually.
I've moved around a lot, and I was never fond of where I came from anyway (and the feeling was mutual) so identifying by city or state never appealed to me, though I did feel most at home in the LA area of all the places I've lived. Still, that isn't part of my identity to the same degree that my family defines who I am.
Though I'm estranged from them, I still have a strong identity as Gerald and Anna's daughter, and thus tend to think of myself as being as much Irish and Russian as I do American, at least in cultural terms.
I also feel a stronger affinity to my work place as a means of identity than my country, city, or state. It's hard to connect to the idea of the country defining me, given how huge and populous and diverse it is. American means citizen of the US, but what does it mean in addition to that? What do you know about an American other than that, just based on that one piece of information? I find it a rather imprecise way of identifying myself.
So, how do I identify myself? Roughly in this order:
Family/friends: I'm Gilda, Grace's wife and Sissy's older sister, good friend to one special person. Part and parcel in that is my sexual identity, both in terms of gender and orientation.
Work: I'm Dr. Nakamura, English professor and children's lit expert.
Avocations: I'm a fan of great movies, literature, and comic books.
Community: This varies from work to neighborhood to city.
Family Background: Irish and Russian
Country: American.
Gilda
Last edited by Gilda; 04-01-2006 at 06:08 PM..
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