I don't hate myself, I don't hate my country, I hate my image, an image given to me by people who I strongly disagree with (and this doesn't mean everyone from my country or a party or a lifestyle or belief). People who have wrapped my true identity underneath their ideals, beliefs, achievements and laziness. (These are different people, but their grouped image gives me my image to outsiders, the proverbial "they") I have also been imaged by people from the outside, while I can't blame them too much, because I can't honestly say that they have done my image worse than my own country has. If Sex and the City, was not a popular show and let's say Nova was more popular than S&tC, then my external image would be at least, smarter or more inquisitive and I'd personally like that, but it is not so, WE did that. Countries used to hate us, but they hated us because we were almost all around better, now they actually have some basis for knocking our faults that used to be our strengths (Graduation Rates, Science Advances, The ability to justify, plan, WIN and end a war, etc.) and I hate that, because that isn't me, but I'm American, so by default, it is me. So again, I am not Self-Hating, I am not Country hating, I am stereotyped and I should have the right to refuse to succumb to something I am not and to be able to tell someone what I actually believe shouldn't be a demarcation, especially in this country. If that sounds like whining, then fine, let that be part of my image, because at least I had a hand in it. But here's the thing, THAT is my right from God, as interpreted by some dead dudes who wrote this crazy old paper a couple hundred years ago.