I’m from a small town, so depends who I’m talking to?

Of the three, state.

I identify as someone from my city first

I don’t identify as a US American.

I identify as an American.

When interacting with someone from another country, I identify as an American.

When interacting with a fellow American, I identify as a resident of my state, where I have lived nearly my entire life, excepting times spent out of state & out of country while I was in the military.

When interacting with a fellow resident of my state, I identify as a resident of the major city in whose suburbs I reside.

When interacting with a fellow resident of the metro area, I identify with either the general region of the metro area or the specific municipality in which I actually reside.

I live in Chicago, which is a major city. So I’d say Chicago, believe it or not, I guarantee more people are familiar with the city than Illinois.

But if I lived somewhere else in Illinois, I’d say the state.

I feel no connection to anywhere, not country, not state, not city, not my ancestors, not the human race, nothing. I don’t hate that stuff, it’s just like those are places and people like any other, not special or “mine” any more than some other group or place.

Maybe it’s because I’ve lived all over the country. Maybe it’s because I’m not particularly fond of my birth place. I’m thoroughly American as far as enculturation, language, temperament, etc as I’ve never lived anywhere else, so it’s not like I’m a “stranger in a strange land” or something intriguing. It’s just blank. Null. That organ other people seem to have making them feel “at home” just never developed when I was in the womb., nor do I feel any need to have it.

If I had to guess who “my people” were I think I’m more akin to something like a hermit. Lockdown showed me that a lot of people are genuinely different from me in terms of the needs they have. Even now that I’ve finally managed to acquire somewhat of a “hermitage” for myself I feel like its temporary steward rather than a place I “belong”. When I describe this to people they consider it sad, but I am quite happy.

I did, after false starts, manage to find a partner that feels the same way, so I’m not “alone” or lonely. Her family was actively abusive and cutting ties was an excruciating process that left scars. Nothing like that ever happened to me. I still speak to my family, just not frequently. Again, not totally sure why. Perhaps whatever I have is genetic.

Generally the closest that’s relevant to who’s asking. e.g. if the one asking is from the same state, I will say the town. If it’s someone from another state, I’ll say the state, and from another country, I’ll just say the US.

As for identify, I know this sounds pretentious, but generally “human” or “citizen of Earth”. I have no control over where I was born, and I’m more concerned with where I’m going in life than where I arbitrarily started. I’ve also never felt that I need to be proud of a place just because that’s where I’m from.

I identify as a displaced Western European barbarian, but I identify my location as USAmerican.

None of them.

To other Americans, I identify as a New Englander or a Masshole. :)

To the outside world, I’ll probably say I’m from Boston first (I’m not, but it’s the closest big city the outside world might recognize) before saying I’m American.

I’ve moved between states a lot, so I say American.

Depends on who’s asking generally. If it’s someone from my state I say the town, if they’re from the US I say the state and if they’re from outside the US I just say American. But it really just depends on how specific the conversation is at the time

Portlander -> Oregonian -> American

I just say I’m American.

Definitely nation last.

Mind you, I don’t really have much of a built in local identity at all. As in, the town and county don’t mean much to me. But the area, yeah. There’s a certain vibe to the tri county area that’s distinct from the surrounding counties, and from the general Appalachian culture, as well as the southern Appalachian culture (as was brought up in a previous post here lol).

But I’m definitely a mountain boy, and a southerner. Both have left deep etching into my speech, my way of looking at the world, and how I look at the rest of the country.

But, yeah, being American is part of that. You can’t really grow up in a single country and not internalize at least parts of the overall ethos and culture.

When it comes down to it, I tend to think of myself as a southerner more than an American. An American more than an american ( lower case because afaik, you don’t capitalize it when you’re referring to both continents), and an american more than a westerner. I tend to see more connections to people from Canada and Mexico than from central and south america, but I’d generally have more of a connection to, say, a Brazilian than maybe a Spaniard or an Italian.

There actually is an “american” connection. It’s maybe not as intense as what you would find in the EU as a connecting ethos, but the way all the countries this side of the pond formed, the history we share, you’ll end up having more in common with someone that doesn’t have any recent shared ancestry than you might with people that are from where your most recent European ancestors came from. Like, my Irish side, when things come up in the world, there’s usually less of an immediate “aha!”, where I just get where they’re coming from than with someone from Nicaragua (I happen to know several Nicaraguan families, so it’s a good example).

Hell, sometimes, I find myself having more in common with people online that are from South America than with people from Utah or Montana. And that’s with the language barrier.

I tend to think of myself as a southerner first though. Even when I hate part of the South’s history or culture, I’m steeped in it. The humidity and the dirt are soaked into me.

It’s like this: if someone asks, I tend to say I’m from America, but I am a southerner.