Stand up for America... Intelligently.

One of my favorite classes is focused on the Modern History of South Asia. To my surprise I am not very interested in the class subject. What I do love is the open forum discussions about current affairs that sometimes carry through an entire class period. For a blissful 75 minutes, no one is on Facebook, no one is texting, no one is worried about the work that they did not do for their next class.
Today someone brought up the riot that happened in London. For those of you who don't know, the students protested outside of Tory headquarters against a rise in tuition for University. The protest got out of hand and some of the crowd turned violent, leading to injuries and a possible attempted murder.
Our professor asked us why we thought that riots and exaggerated protests were not as common in the United States. There were a lot of explanations by students, like that Americans are too apathetic, that there is too much trust in the institution, that no one can protest anymore without being labeled an extremest, and that we just can't organize anything important because we are such a large nation. That discussion transitioned into how Americans are now so squeamish that we do not talk about politics and religion. The problem is not only that we do not do it, it is that we do not know how to do it.
For anyone who has ever traveled internationally, it becomes quickly apparent that political discourse discussions are a critical part of society for the much of the rest of the world. When confronted with this highly intellectual type of conversation, many Americans are stunned and can't voice their opinions quickly enough to be heard. This problem makes us seem like absolute idiots. Ignorant of our surroundings and out place in the world. When viewed in this light, we seem to have no self-awareness in the global perspective.
I am a citizen of the United States and of the United Kingdom, and I love my mother country, but I have so much love and faith for my fellow Americans. We are smart. We are innovate. And as proved but that last decade, we are resilient!
Our country was build on ideas dreamed up by men who sat in tea shops and had political discourse conversations, to try and figure out how they could improve their situations. I dream of an America, where it is not taboo to mention who you voted for and where I can say my political orientation without getting mean look or comment. If you disagree with my position, do not insult it- REASON WITH IT! Use logic, history, and critical thinking to your advantage and fight me. Hopefully I can live up to my own ideals and fight back.