Americans consider themselves to be the epitome of everything great. We seem to think that we’re the flag bearers of Western civilization, and that the world would be much better off if everyone would just hop on board with us. Now, I’m not saying that Americans are terrible, or that we’re a bad country, but in reality, we aren’t always as good as we claim to be.
To begin with, while most of the western parts of the world (and including in countries like Pakistan, a very conservative Islamic nation) have had a woman executive, Americans seem to think that it will somehow change everything once we have our first, and almost think that the rest of the world really thinks that its that big of a deal. Well heads up, they don’t really care.
America is quite possibly the farthest behind in social issues in the entire developed western world. We champion human rights, criticize other countries for their records, yet completely disregard the fact that we are a very sexist and racist country, (SPOILER ALERT: Yes! We are racist!!!) and this irony isn’t lost on the rest of the world. Even China, notorious for its terrible human rights history has stood up and said that our history of racial violence and slavery leave us in no true position to criticize anybody.
It is possible that the groups that are often discriminated against sometimes do hold themselves back, because they want to victimize themselves (i.e. the race card) and should do their best to not always draw attention to what they want to not be singled out for, but at the same time they have very good reason to be championed. The fact that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are the first two minorities that ever had a true chance at becoming the Presidential Nominee for any major party is something to be celebrated. Not only is it a great feat for us as Americans that we are now not only letting old white men run this country, but America is finally growing up and beginning to catch up with the rest of the world.
The fact that the media and just about everyone else has a hay day with the fact that something like this could ever happen in America is pathetic. Its like giving a kid ten dollars for every A that he gets on his grade card. Now as many of you who know me, I wasn’t always the best student, (I always had better things to do than homework) but the kid shouldn’t need to be bribed to do well as a student; he should be mature enough in his own right to realize he should do it himself. The same with America, we need to get off our collective asses and look at the issues, not at race or gender. Because in the end, we all bleed red.
Want more things that aren’t as great as we seem to present to the rest of the world?
- Our terrible and ineffective prison system- We currently have a larger proportion of our population than any other country in the world incarcerated. And a great majority of those people are repeat offenders.
- Gang violence
- Gun Laws- Yes, I’m going there! Now I’m willing to admit my numbers might be off on this one but they are close. I read an article explaining how in the entirety of the United Kingdom— Population: 60,776,238, where it is illegal to own a handgun. In fact, thanks to the wonderful people at Yahoo! Answers I found this little snippit:
In the UK possession of Handguns or automatic weapons is illegal, possession of a non-automatic rifle or shotgun is only legal if you possess a firearms licence which requires a check by the police and it is only available to residents of the UK.
On the other hand UK levels of gun crime are much lower, in 2006 there were 210 deaths caused by firearms (which includes suicide). In the US the total annual figure runs at about 30,000. That’s over 140 times as many with only 5 times the population. - The pitiful turnout of potential voters
- The blending of religion and government (This will be another essay, trust me)
- The ridiculous influence that mega-corporations have on our government policy (yes I’m talking about PACS and lobbyists). I understand the importance of them, and even I will say they’re not all bad, they distract the incumbents from their constituents all too often.
- And let’s not forget our ever popular and underfunded Education system. The key to any good society is education, and we are lacking here. The fact that something like 60% of American 5th grade students can’t even find our country on a map is pitiful. This is something every single American should be ashamed of.
Once again, I’m not saying that America is a terrible place to live. I love the freedoms that I have. In fact, they’re what let me write this. But my entire point of this essay is to say that America needs to stop claiming to be the best in the world, and step up and be the best.
Finally, I know this post is a bit scattered. But I feel that most of the things I’ve touched on in this post should be further expanded on, so count on posts about them.
I do believe the gun control-ists are trying to get ammendments, so we’ll see how that flies. So far, not very high.