When I first came into the social networks, I soon found a digital high school. It was a cliquish collective of political, social, and economical sides. I have enjoyed the back and forth with friends on the left and the right, the stance of "never surrender" was so prevalent, then something clicked that changed my scope of the view of America and the world.
I must first commend my international connections. They truly have made me see that I don’t live in a bubble that ends at the coast of the Pacific or the Atlantic. What they really opened my eyes to was my hypocrisy. I have to concede, no matter how painful the reality is that I have been living a great delusion.
“We’re number 1!”
I lived in that comfort most of my life. Olympics, freedoms, and even wars kept me feeling pride filled about America. But I was lying to myself. I was following the “American Way”, worked all my life, been in management since I was 19. Truly believed that no other country could be better and there was no one that could change my mind.
But something went wrong. I stopped talking and started to listen. Didn’t like what I heard. Some people pissed me off. Others have almost gotten blocked because of the criticism of America had a sting that was hard to bear. There was one person who writes scathing commentaries about America and its politics. I highly recommend that you read it with an open mind:
Do I agree with everything? No. But he made a point that I didn’t miss.
We as Americans have become hypocrites.
That’s right, we are full of shit! How are we number one because we defend our short-comings based on the shortcomings of other countries? So it’s the argument that we may suck but not a bad as other countries? Now if we are number one, what are the criteria? Is it our political freedom? Women couldn't vote until August 26, 1920 and blacks couldn’t vote until August 6, 1965. Freedom of speech? Did you know that Finland has one of the most free and open press? What about ours? But because Saudi Arabia doesn’t allow women to drive now we are number one?
Or is it education, health care, or mortality rates?
Education, we aren’t even in the top 10.
Health care, we aren’t in the top 10.
Mortality rates, we aren’t in the top 20.
If the OECD has us that low on the most fundamental of charts what are we beating our chest for?
What’s with the delusion?
I can explain this one. We see the repercussions of our government on us and us alone. When we hear that “our guy” wins an election, we run around like we are fans of a sports team that just won a championship.
But the Packers don’t have over a 175 military bases worldwide. The Dallas Mavericks haven’t used “shock and awe” on countries that never attacked us. The San Francisco Giants didn’t win the World Series by trying to destroy the global economic structure by using derivatives. The Bruins didn't use drones to win the Stanley Cup.
Our government is so damned arrogant that it uses military might to remove leaders from other countries! We applaud that! Because "We Won!"
You see Americans don't see what happens in other countries unless they are watching late night television to send 25 cents a day to help some poor kid in another country. Its hard to empathize with what other countries are deal with from Monsanto if we are struggling with our own kitchen table bills.
I know many reading this, especially my friends; will feel as if I am oversimplifying complex issues. I am. I am saying that many other people from other countries think that our hypocrisy is a joke! Not because we don’t have any redeeming values. Their issue is that with all the promise, all the bravado, we are supposed to be better. We are the “American Experiment”! Alexis de Tocqueville envisioned such great things for America. Many people across the globe want great things for America. We are supposed to lead the way in greatness, not empire building, not using the military to remove despots or democratically voted officials in other countries in order to enable paths to profiteers.
America is supposed to set the standard, not kill Chinese workers in order to make an iPod. We are supposed to be a “Christian Nation” that has a rehabilitating penal system, not applauding the death penalty. We should be the compassionate country, not one that spends over seventy years of interference in the Middle East.
We should be the example that everyone wants to follow, not the example to fear.
In order to be number one, we must be better…not just to ourselves as blacks, whites, republicans, democrats, gay, straight, Christians, Muslims, Chinese, men, women, children, or any label we carry around, but to other countries. Not with Foreign Aid, but with humanity and understanding. Our willingness to accept and embrace everyone makes us great.
Maybe we need to remember:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door. ”
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