The Version of America the World Sees
The World Baseball Classic felt like a reflection of something bigger
For the past couple weeks the World Baseball Classic has captured most of my attention.
What struck me was not just the baseball. It was what it revealed. It felt like an allegory of the United States. Not the version we tell ourselves, but the version the rest of the world might actually see.
It brought me back to something I have not thought about in years. The 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.
I remember being there. Walking through pavilion after pavilion, seeing how countries chose to present themselves. It was not just architecture. It was identity. It was culture. It was pride.
China’s pavilion felt rooted in history. Chile’s felt warm and inviting, almost like a gathering place. Other countries leaned into innovation, agriculture, art, and storytelling. There was a sense of energy and authenticity. You could feel that these countries wanted to show the world who they were.
And then there was the United States.
Our pavilion was funded by corporate sponsorships. That was the law. It could not be publicly funded. So what we ended up with was something that felt exactly like what funded it.
Corporate.
Structured.
Controlled.
There were logos everywhere. Sponsorships from major corporations. A overly polished presentation. A Disney-produced film as the centerpiece. Everything felt managed, filtered, and corporate.
It also felt empty.
People walked through it and wanted more. Not more production value. More substance. More culture. More identity. Real America.
Even working there felt different. Other countries had camaraderie. Their teams bonded. They explored together. There was joy. There was pride in representing something.
Ours felt like a corporate environment. Rules. Image control. PR management. A sense that you were representing a brand more than your slice of Americana.
I remember leaving early. Not because I did not want to be there, but because I was disappointed. I knew we had more to offer than the American Airlines branded uniforms.
That same feeling came back watching the World Baseball Classic.
You look at teams like Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Italy, even teams like the Czech Republic. You see energy. You see joy. You see players dancing in the dugout, celebrating, embracing the moment. You see teams that are proud to be there.
You see connection.
Then you look at Team USA.
And it feels different.
There is talent. There is no question about that. But the energy is not the same. The urgency is not the same. The joy is not the same.
You hear about contract concerns. Commitments to MLB teams. Players not fully bought in until they arrive. A sense that this is not the main event.
You see a locker room that feels controlled instead of alive.
You see moments that lean into something else entirely. Military symbolism. Structured messaging. A kind of seriousness that does not match the spirit of the competition.
There was even a moment where the team brought in the man credited with killing Osama bin Laden to give a pregame speech. That choice, paired with the heavy military symbolism throughout, pushed the tone away from sport and into something that felt more paramilitary than celebratory.
It did not feel like a team coming together around the joy of representing their country. It felt like a performance of power.
And you start to notice something else.
It feels like we expect to win. It felt like the performances were mailed in.
There was a moment where the United States played as if advancement was guaranteed, without even realizing they had not clinched a semifinal spot, ultimately leaving it up to other teams.
It is not confidence. It is arrogance and complacency.
And when you put that next to teams that are fighting for every inning, celebrating every moment, and treating the opportunity like it matters, the contrast becomes obvious.
It reminded me of that feeling in Shanghai.
When you put the United States next to the rest of the world, something becomes clearer.
We are not lacking talent. We are not lacking resources. We are not lacking history or culture.
What we are lacking, at least in how we present ourselves, is connection.
We are starting to feel like a brand instead of a country.
Because I do not believe that is who we actually are.
I do not believe that Americans lack heart, or pride, or community. I know it exists.
But I do think something else is shaping how we show up.
Corporate influence.
Militarization.
You see it in our cities. You drive through different towns and they start to look the same. The same stores. The same layouts. The same developments. The same experience.
And compared to countries that are willing to show their culture in a raw, vibrant, and sometimes imperfect way, we start to look… flat.
That is the word that keeps coming to mind.
Flat.
The World Baseball Classic showed that.
Not because we lost a game. Baseball is unpredictable. Anyone can win on any given day. That is part of what makes it great.
The Cleveland Guardians proved that. A young, scrappy team that fought their way back and played with energy and belief.
That is what I saw in those international teams.
And it made me ask a harder question.
What are we showing the world right now?
Because when people show you who they are, you are supposed to believe them. And I think, on that stage, we showed something.
Not the full picture. Not the best version of ourselves. But a version that is shaped by corporate influence, controlled messaging, and a belief that we will always come out on top no matter what.
It is not wrong to be confident, but it is wrong to be arrogant.
It is about asking: Are showing the world who we really are?
Because I know we are more than what I saw in Shanghai.
And I know we are more than what I saw in that dugout.
We have to keep fighting for the identity within our communities and not being afraid to export it.
Stay Angry.
Check out some articles from 2010 reviews of the Shanghai expo
http://www.expo2010china.hu/index.phtml?module=hir&ID=1802
http://shanghaiscrap.com/2010/04/weve-got-yer-pizza-american-cuisine-well-represented-at-expo-2010/
Arrogance, sadly, is the American brand. Will that brand be on full display during the upcoming World Cup? The LA Olympics?