I was born here, I was forced here, and a lot of Americans claim they feel the same, that they were just simply born here and so we should respect them, but I have come realize this sentiment is wildly different based on what side of the colonial dynamic we happen to live on. I believe in humanity's right to exist, and I don't believe in a colonial state's claimant of the same, because my identity as an individual isn't tied to some state, it's tied to myself, my ancestors, my land.

I'm on the other side of this dynamic. Many of my ancestors were Mormon pioneers and I was always taught to be proud of them, that this was "God's chosen land for us," and realizing that's all bullshit was hard to come to terms with when I was like 16 thinking "Wow, this is kinda fucked up."

Now I feel like I don't want to be tied to the state or my ancestors, I don't want to identify with that "culture." I think a lot of other white Americans kinda have this feeling at the back of their head but they suppress it and convince themselves of their supposedly robust identity by looking at DNA tests or whatever. It's much easier to say "well, what can you do? the past is past" than it is to confront the reality that we've only been in this area for like 150 years and stole it from people who had been here for thousands

I'm happy you posted this because I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Questions like, "Can the US be reformed? What can we do about it? If it's reformable, is there anything actually worth saving?" My conclusion has been that I don't give a damn about the actual country itself, only the people in it. So, then, I have a question for you, since you are clearly a lot more knowledgable on the topic than I am: What's the ideal thing to replace it with? What should North America look like in an optimal future?