Is it just me, or is it hard to be a proud American these days? Not that this is anything new—*gestures around at all of American history*—but it’s particularly hard right now to express any sort of American patriotism, even indirectly, without feeling like I’m aligning with the Bad Guys. You know, the ones abducting five-year-olds from the streets, murdering civilians, and then lying about it. Call me crazy, but I just can’t get behind that. 

As a brand, America has really tanked. Most of the time, it can feel like the American flag itself has been co-opted by far-right extremists and signifies support for the disastrous direction our country is going in. Not to mention the face of our country exhibits some of the worst packaging design imaginable— orange is a tough brand color for anyone to pull off.