I often wonder if I’m the only person who cringes everytime I hear someone say that the United States is the greatest nation in the world. Who needs to say that and more importantly why do people need to cling to that? First of all how are you quantifying greatness. Secondly it’s just not true.
No I expect to get a ton of pushback on this and I’m OK with that. I’ve earned the right to express myself on this with blood, sweat, and tears. If we were really great we wouldn’t have hundreds of thousands of people homeless on our streets. We wouldn’t still have separate and unequal school systems for our children. We wouldn’t be investing more in locking up people than we do in educating them. We would have no need for racial designations on almost every form that we fill out. If we were great we would recognize the inherent value of all of our citizens. We would lead the world in delivering Healthcare to all of our people.
We’re not the greatest nation in the world because we care far more for the accumulation of individual wealth than we do for the collective well being of all. We Don’t fight for our Constitution. We watch it get trod on everyday because not enough of us are willing to fight for it. Upon leaving Constitution Hall Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government the framers had created a monarchy or a republic. “A republic,” he famously replied, and then added, “if you can keep it.” It appears that Franklin understood the challenges that we would face. They knew that the strength of the Constitution would depend on the will of the people. The people are failing the test..
Religion has wiggled its way into how we run our government. Knowing where the state and religion seperate almost doesn’t exist anymore. We practice a false kind of Christianity that reinforces hate and division. The notion that every man or women is free to practice whatever religion they choose is a fiction.
No America is not the greatest nation in the world. We probably never were but at least we aspired to be at one point.
Undoubtedly there will be people who want to take exception to this commentary and present counter arguments. I’m ok with that. In fact I welcome it. Maybe if we can have an honest dialog we can start to create a real path forward.
THINK!!
EYES WIDE OPEN!!!
PLEASE SHARE!