"America" means "rich in love"

A friend of mine once sent me a postcard suggesting the real meaning of my name (actually spelled "Americo"). Having grown up as a Portuguese immigrant in Southern California, I had insecurity about my name. How could I live up to the country that my father named me after? My friend explained it this way:

Americo = Amo, ame (for "love") + rico (for "rich" as in Porto Rico, "rich port"). "Americo" means "rich in love". (In Italian it looks like "Amare ricco" and in Portuguese it's "Amor rico". Change the "o" to an "a" to go to the female form which "America" looks like.)

Perhaps, the real meaning of "America" is: the United State of "Rich in Love". These days, it doesn't look that way, unless making war instead of love is our way. My faith is that when this country gets past living in fear, it will rediscover its roots in love. There is much in a name.

Image from Riding Holidays.

Hubert Dreyfus on "What's the meaning of life?"

Hubert Dreyfus Interview: On the Meaning Of Life by americ

In March 2007, I paid a visit to Professor Hubert Dreyfus at his office in the University of California, Berkeley. He takes the question of meaning of life seriously. You will find his remarks provocative. Wikipedia reports that "Professor Hubert Dreyfus is a contemporary American philosopher. He is considered one the world's leading analysts of postmodern philosophy from Edmund Husserl to Michel Foucault, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and especially Martin Heidegger.."

Audio production by Lynette Webb.