The Best, the Most, and the Capital

Yesterday, on our walk to the Oregon state line (it's only three miles from home, so please don't overestimate our fitness), we passed the JS Ranch and spotted the sign shown above.

"I think a committee designed that sign," said Husband.

"Yeah," I responded, "and they got in a deadlocked vote as to which slogan to use, so they used both.  'Queen of the beef breed,' and 'The supreme beef breed.'!  I think the girls voted for the first one, and the boys voted for the second."

I was amused enough to take a picture with my ever-handy pocket camera.  And then we walked on by.  But for some reason, I looked back at the sign after we passed by, and I saw this:

And then I really laughed!  "The world's most versatile?"  So they have the best of the beef, and the best of the horses!  This struck me, as someone who grew up in another culture, as so "very American."  Let me explain.

When I was growing up, we used to come to the United States for furloughs. Our visits often included a road trip to visit interesting places across the country.  This served two purposes:  you didn't wear out your welcome with relatives, and you got acquainted with Americana, which was handy for us kids since we had American passports, but Asian lives.

One of the things I noticed (and continue to notice) as we passed through American towns, was that they are very often the capital of something.  For example, Austin, Texas is the "live music capital of the world," and Las Vegas is the "wedding capital of the world."  You might be further interested in the following capitals across the United States:

• Battle Creek, MI:  Cereal Capital of the World
• Fort Payne, AL:  Sock Capital of the World
• Mount Horeb, WI:  Troll Capital of the World
• Beaver, OK:  Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World

You'd probably be even more gastronomically edified if you knew that Collinsville, IL is the Horseradish Capital of the World; Alma, Arkansas is the Spinach Capital of the World; and Castroville, CA is the Artichoke Capital of the World.

With all these capitals, my fifth grade Social Studies memorization in that little one-room schoolhouse in Malaysia didn't mean squat.  All I knew was a capital for each of the fifty U.S. states!

Which brings me to my questions:  Why does America have such a deep need for identity?  And why does it need to be the best, the most, and the capital? Why must my ranch have the best beef and the most versatile horse?  Why must I always seek to win, to be applauded, to gain celebrity or renown of some sort?  What would it look like to drive into that town about half an hour from where I live, and see the town sign say, "Dixie, Washington. Another nondescript wide spot in the road. Carry on."?

Now that would make me laugh.

The barn at Dixie.  Really rather attractive, in a rural sort of way.