Despite the decline in national pride amid today’s tumultuous political climate, stand-up comic Andrew Schulz says he’s “proud to be American” nonetheless.
“Pride does seem like it’s at an all-time low. It’s a really disappointing thing,” the actor asserted before questioning how Americans could reinvigorate national pride.
“I truly believe you can be the best version of yourself here,” Mr. Schulz declared.
“And I think anybody else in the world can be the best, most successful version of themselves here, and that’s why I’m proud to be American. You can reach your full potential in this country,” he said, adding, “You can be the greatest version of yourself, and I don’t know if there’s another country that offers that opportunity.”
Mr. Schulz continued: “You can be great—an individual can be great here—and I think that’s a really special thing that we kinda lose ... sight of, but it is what makes me proud.”
The New York native attributed his sentiment, in part, to his mother, Sandra, being an immigrant. “She came here and she felt like she had all this opportunity,” he offered. “You can’t tell my mom it’s not the greatest country in the world.”
The comedian’s mother, who has lived in the United States since her early 20s, attained her citizenship last year, a moment Mr. Schulz highlighted on Instagram.
“She was born and raised in Scotland. She stopped going to school at 15. Came to the US at 23. She became a 3x US ballroom dance champion, started her own business, bought 2 homes and put her 2 sons through college,” he penned.
Built for Greatness
Mr. Schulz and Mr. Rogan agreed that the United States has flaws, which the former touched upon in his 2020 Netflix comedy special “Schulz Saves America,” a four-part series that tackles some of the most divisive topics facing Americans.“There’s no perfect solution, like, universal basic income isn’t the perfect solution, welfare is not the perfect solution. There’s no perfect solution to fix all that ails us, but at least here you can go from the bottom to the top,” said Mr. Rogan.
Mr. Schulz concurred, stating there isn’t “a cultural oppression that exists for greatness” in the United States.
“The place is built to go to the top, and it makes me proud,” he said. “I wish more people would grab onto that idea.”
During the nearly four-hour-long interview, Mr. Schulz also discussed the decline of cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, which have been struggling with rampant homelessness and violent crimes, largely ascribing the issues to progressive policies.
“We need that back and forth. We need that pendulum to swing,” he said, referencing severe political polarization.
“You see what happens when there’s just people existing in that echo chamber. You saw what happens in [expletive], you know, San Francisco or even LA. You see like an idea permeate and then a very lax law or a lack of enforcement of that law create a culture that people are now not happy with,” he explained.
“When you exist in the echo chamber, you’re fighting for different sides of liberalism. You don’t have that balance where these people are yelling at these people, and we kind of end up [in the middle], and that’s healthy,” he stated. “That little back-and-forth is healthy.”
