Blog to America - American Perspectives

Caitlin from New Jersey - Terrorism

2007-09-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

Hi friends around the world,

I am an American, but am I proud? I have been debating this topic in my head in the past months especially leading up to today, 9/11. Have I come up with an answer? No, but many ideas. First of all, it is my dream to live, well, not in the United States. I would love to live all over the world , moving every few years, and finally after discovering as much as I can, settle down. But in the mean time, I am stuck here. As a young child, I was very proud to be American. Now I think that is because of the American "history" we were taught in grade school. To be honest, I feel like I've been lied to. As a high school student, last year I took an U.S history course, and realized what the real American history was about. I've always had this feeling as a kid that America was great and all, and really had good values and freedoms. When I learned about American imperialism and colonization, I was horrified and surprised. America was the nation that fought against all of that for freedom, and yet we did it to others. I can totally understand why people outside of the U.S would not like it. Even though they think we are possibly helping, by coming into your country, why is it America's business. Most of the time it is not. Why do you even want to be like us here? America is filled with shallow and completely stupid people. There are so many people who waste their lives away doing nothing with their lives and not trying to do anything to live nicely and many have all the resources available to them. There are so many people in countries around the world dying to live comfortable lives like we do here.
I am mostly liberal, coming from New Jersey. I probably have a biased view, but I really think that New Jersey, NYC, and parts of California (NOT L.A!) are the only intelligent parts of this country. Of course that is biased, but the majority of people in my school except for maybe a few are not Bush supporters. You go down to Florida or Virginia -and its difficult to convince people he is bad. It is sad and pathetic, that many people do not think for themselves, and many people from Texas love him to death, and believe everything he says and supports everything he does just because he is from their State. I almost wish we were not one united country, but a continent of fifty different ones. Each state or cluster of states has their own personalities, views and beliefs. If New Jersey were its own country, It would be pretty kick ass.

Now, as to 9/11. Seeing the smoke from my house, just killed me. I remember that day, being in the sixth grade, like it was yesterday, and sometimes it still feels like it was only last year. There is nothing worse than having a "i remember exactly what i was doing on the day of____ attacks" day. It could be Pearl Harbor, a president being assassinated, and now in the case of most Americans today, 9 11. And especially those close to where it hit. Like i said, seeing the smoke made it extremely real and petrifying. New Jersey-being the home of very important ports (in Elizabeth-about 10 minutes from me) could have very well been the next target, and when George Bush almost sold them... that would have been just ridiculous. Anyway, the memory of 9/11 will always be with me, and I will always remember that day-not knowing all day of what was happening except that the towers were no longer there-for a reason I did not know at the time. I was 11, the impact of it didn't hit me right away. When my mom picked me up, in tears, i knew something horrible had happened. We came home , and put the news on right away. every single channel. Watching over and over again, the planes hitting, the fires burning, and the people jumping out from the floors like the 80th floor, people jumping, people dying, the towers coming crashing down , the people in the streets screaming and running, and the debris flying and crashing down .wow. the impact of watching it on television was enough. i think i would have just stood there and froze if i was actually seeing it in real life. The footage was played over and over again, deathly. The panic. You just don't understand the impact of war, until it hits home, and this is one of the only times it has in recent history. I feel horrible and embarrassed and ashamed of the fact that America is inflicting this pain on Iraqis. I have read some journals and some of these letters from Iraq and their lives have been turned around. We think they are going from bad to good but for man!
y it has
gone from Fine to horrible. The people live in fear everyday that there will be panic explosion and death. We had to deal with it one day, they have to deal with it everyday.
So, I guess back to the original question, am I patriotic of the United States? I am patriotic of New York City-basically my second home, I am patriotic for the people who fought for their rights such as womens rights and gay and lesbian rights and any other rights fought for especially in the 60s. I am patriotic of the people who come to America or struggle in America and eventually live that so called "American Dream" -if they worked hard, persevered, and really really strived good for them and congratulations. But in no way am I patriotic of the principals we convince people and claim we stand for-They are Great, but if we don't actually follow them, then I am not proud. I am in no way patriotic of the scummy white trash citizens who do Shit, while people are risking their lives from Mexico to come here just to live their lives-maybe in the worst conditions and maybe illegally, but they have more justification and integrity and character and soul than many people living here. let them come here, let them have a chance, send all those scumbags wasting away to mexico in their place. and in no absolute way am i patriotic of president Bush. I am ashamed that I live here sometimes. I am not ashamed of the life I live or what I believe in or what I THOUGHT america was or what it is supposed to stand for. but for what it has become.
I hope to hear some feedback.
Thanks,
Caitlyn

Name: Caitlyn
Age: 17
Country: United States
City: Cranford
State: New Jersey
Gender: Female
Income: Low
Occupation: student
ExperienceWIthUS: Currently Live in the United States
Website: http://caitywrites.livejournal.com/

Riley from Missouri - US role in The World & Iraq Response

2007-09-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

The future of the United Sates should include efforts to more Cooperatively interact with the UN. With the UN's approval of action against circumstances of hostile, aggressive behavior of other countries, it will be easier to change the world for the better and protect the assaulted People/ nations. The goal of the United States international Interactions needs to be: 1) To make a better life for its own people needing help, and 2) To keep, create, and offer peace. The first step to help out humanity, without using force (a way for the U.S. to gain the worlds Trust again), is to, with the UN's support oversee and provide Assistance in the homelands of those who show up at our borders, because of disease, poverty, and hunger. The United States will have more success in the actions we take, if we work through international organizations. Hopefully, by strengthening the UN, unstable/ semi-unpredictable Countries like China and Russia, can be controlled, and even steered towards favoring the United States' and The UN's wisdom. We, the people of this earth, are stronger united than apart. We each have something to Offer each other. We believe the same is true for countries. If we take these cooperative actions, the world will respect all that the UN has to offer, and will become a more peaceful, cooperative place.

We could be begin by withdrawing our troops, not all at once because we have created a level of dependence, and that could easily cause a collapse and then, more unrest. Starting, post-haste, span it out over several months, and take back in our troops a few thousand at a time. We have no idea what the effect will or could be, but no one will probably worse off, and hopefully, it will slowly inspire independence. If we give them time, to sort themselves out, even if it has to come to a civil war, let them create their balance. We could, grouped with other powers under some UN sanctified task force, return later and offer monetary assistance or help them stabilize themselves in the world economy. We should continue using oil from the middle east, it forces a certain amount of trust and would keep some sort of communication open between us, and that is a good thing, we all need good foreign relations because no nation can live in isolation. We could offer work programs to economic migrants and then send them back with a good, or more advanced education, so as to help better their own communities. Now though, we need to back off, give them their space, and quit lording over them. We may be a world power, but we shouldn't be arrogant. Yeah.

Jessie Theby, Riley Deel

About the Author

Name: Riley
Age: 17
Country: USA
City: St. Louis
State: MO
Gender: Female
Occupation: Student

Shannon from Missouri - US Role in America

2007-09-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

The United States needs to back off. Right now we are pressure people too much, and we are not making them happy. We are making some enemies, which is not good. We need to calm down and give other nations a chance instead of stepping in right away and interfering. Some nations might need a push in the right direction, but we don't have to force it so much. We need to stop focusing on the on everyone else, and start focusing on the citizens of our own nation. I understand that we can't pull out of things too fast, like Iraq, because that can cause trouble. We should just slowly start pulling out, especially if it's somewhere where we are not welcome. If we do not have the support from other people of what we are doing we should get the idea that maybe it's not the best thing. We should listen to other nations, instead of ignoring them. If we were to pull out of Iraq it may cause trouble, but maybe trouble is needed. Iraq should work out their own problems. If civil war were to break out, then maybe it is necessary. If a war broke out and got too bad, we could always come back, but I think we need to give them a chance and see what happens if we were not there. It would be nice if we could set up a working government in Iraq before we leave, but the reality is, that could take way too long.

About the Author

Name: Shannon
Age: 17
State: Missouri
Gender: Female

Nick from MIssouri - US Role in the World

2007-09-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

Why do we believe that the US has to police the entire world. I understand that with great power comes responsibility, but at the cost of our own citizens. Our unrelenting vigor when it is completely obvious we lost can only be two things, bravery or stupidness. Iraq is a prime example of this view, our forces have been there for four, almost five years and still little or no progress. We should focus our main support on actual issues that we did not instigate such as Darfur or our own homeland, where our border policy is a joke. I believe we should focus more on our own problems first rather than another country. Bush recently spoke comparing Vietnam to Iraq and in he speech he mentions that Vietnam forces their ideology on other people...I'm sorry but what do you believe we are doing in Iraq trying to get a dictatorship to turn into a democracy for our own benefit. General Patreus's report is coming in September and I believe we should heed what his report brings.

About the Author

Name: Nick
Age: 16
Country: United States
City: St Louis
State: Missouri
Gender: Male

Stuart from Missouri - CAP and Pacification In Iraq

2007-09-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

I believe that the US role in the world should be focused more on international cooperation. The best way to do this, in my mind, would be a more powerful international court and organizations like the UN. This way many countries could take on global problems, such as global warming and other ecological crises, and terrorism. Foreign aid to less developed countries, especially many African countries, from the international organizations could increase trust, and that may be invaluable for future peacekeeping or aide attempts.

In Iraq the US should start to withdraw troops, but not rapidly. Perhaps bringing down the level of troops to around only a few thousand, just enough to train the Iraqi forces. But along with these 'advisers,' units of what today's equal of what was Vietnam's Combined Action Platoons (CAP) to attempt a 'pacification' campaign. From what I have read on CAP they were very successful in winning the hearts and minds of many villages in Vietnam, not working on big unit tactics like Westmoreland tried, but small unit tactics. What is crucial in fighting an insurgency is winning the hearts and minds of the population, and if the CAP could work in Iraq, then these kinds of units should be employed.

About the Author

Name: Stuart
Age: 17
Country: US
City: St. Louis
State: Missouri
Gender: Male
Income: Low

Evan and Josh from Missouri - Bush Comparing Iraq to Vietnam

2007-09-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

On August 23, 07 President George W. Bush made a comment to the veterans people that was in the war of Vietnam. I just want to say how stupid Bush is for making a comparison to the war of Vietnam. First of all, I just want for everybody to know that back in the Vietnam war, the communist country of Vietnam people have won the war. American's and other people think that we lost or it's a draw. But, I want our troops to pull out of Iraq, but if President Bush does that, it will be more stupid because it will be like we haven't accomplish anything, then in the future we will be like the Iraqis won the war just like Vietnam.

About the Author

Name: Evan and Josh
Age: 17
Country: U.S
City: St. Louis
State: Missouri
Gender: Male
Income: Medium

Jonathan from Missouri - US Role in the World

2007-09-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

I believe that the US should focus its resources towards leading the world to a greater state of cooperation. This kind of cooperation could earn the US more respect with the nations that may have reservations about our actions in the past. If all of the powerful nations were to work together to form a international decision making body, much like the UN, weaker nations that might be in poverty, etc. could be raised up by the help of stronger nations. The combined efforts of multiple nations would also do a much better job of assailing the international problems that threaten the US and other nations alike.

If the US were to allow itself to cooperate with other nations, we would be able to be slightly more reserved about issues such as our involvement in Iraq. This decrease in control would decrease anger towards US involvement in Iraq, as well as allowing the US to focus more of its resources on national security issues. Overall, if the US were to push for cooperation in the world, we would ultimately be able to improve our national needs, as well as gain the trust and aid of other nations to help against the international problems of the future.

Concerning the war situation in Iraq, I believe we should focus on being less of an influence. We can work on this by pulling somewhat, and trying to give them some freedom to work out their situation. If we are monitoring and controlling them constantly, they aren't going to develop a solution. We also continue to develop disdain from other countries while we weaken our own resources and economic situation.

About the Author

Name: Jonathan Hodnefield
Age: 16
Country: United States
City: Saint Louis
State: Missouri
Gender: Male

Kirthi from Missouri - America's Role in the World

2007-09-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

While the United States tries to promote democracy in the rest of the world, our own country is lacking care. The United States has many flaws, but instead we are trying to make the world "flawless" by our standards. Democracy is a concept the United States is trying to promote hoping the reduction of terrorism and other problems. If the United States pulls back and supports our own country's research developments in fields such as alternative fuels, cancer, and other areas can be made. Also strides in our nations economy to help factors such as construction, agriculture, and education, things that make America who we are. When one says protection in the homeland that doesn't mean line up the military and conform every country that has ever hurt us. Protect means to keep the image that we once had, the country that broke away from cruel treatment and succeeded on our own. The United States needs to know the high pedestal we claim to be on does not give us the power to change every country to be just like us. The country that claims diversity is the key is being a hypocrite by trying to stick their noses in every problem that arises.

I feel Iraq is the same problem, but since we are already in Iraq i feel we should pull our troops our little by little. If we pull all our troops out at once then this will cause a problem. Since we have been in Iraq if we leave all of a sudden then Iraq will go back to fighting. So if we pull out a few troops at a time then we can have troops helping the Iraqi people while troops return.

About the Author:

Name: Kirthi Tata
Age: 16
Country: United States
City: Saint Louis
State: Missouri
Gender: Female
Occupation: Student

Adam from Michigan on Freedom and Inaction

2007-07-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

There currently exists an enormous divide within our great nation between people who wish to change our country for the better and people who don't. Those brave and vigilant enough to speak up about it are being criticized by those who refuse to. I have heard many responses to the constructive criticism of our country, and beyond pointless name-calling, it often involves the assertion that those questioning our government are 'anti-American' and should leave the country if they do not like it. There is nothing wrong with voicing such an opinion, and in fact, the freedom to express it is one of the basic rights that we still have left that continue to make our country great.

But in order to continue the absolutely critical and always necessary discussion and evaluation of our leadership, we must be honest with ourselves. We must step back and look, with neutral objectivity, upon our words and evaluate what they truly mean. To hold such an opinion, that questioning our government is invalid and unnecessary, is to demonstrate not only a complete lack of understanding, but also a contempt for those most basic ideas upon which our nation was founded. This opinion itself is, in fact, not only un-American, but self-destructive.

Our nation was founded by great men with great intelligence that questioned and criticized their government. It is not only the foundation of America's entire way of life, but the foundation of all democracy. America has long led the world by example, but in much of the last few decades, it has set a very poor one. In doing so, it has undermined our basic principles, destroyed the faith in and of our country both within and without, and discredited the very principles of democracy that so embody the American spirit.

We impose our will upon other nations under the guise of freedom, a concept so backwards that it is utterly impossible. Freedom cannot be given. If it is given to a country or a people, then it is done so under the implicit assumption that there is something to be given back in turn, which therefore nullifies the freedom given in the first place. Freedom must be taken, it must be fought for and won, and it must never be given up because it will never be given back again. America has given up it's freedom for the illusion of security.

I get it. America is afraid, and so am I. I am afraid of our government, and the actions it might take against people like me who stand up and question the things they are doing. I'm afraid to write these words, and pass them onto my fellow Americans. I'm afraid of their reactions, that they won't listen, or won't take any action. I'm afraid to post this video to Youtube. I'm afraid that our current situation is hopeless. And yet, here I am, doing what I have to in spite of my fears because I know' not think, KNOW' what I'm doing is right.

The media has betrayed us by assisting those in power in their quest to deconstruct our language. This deconstruction is very important, because it allows tyranny to enter, invited, into our homes under the false impression of good intentions. Once powerful and critically meaningful words like 'freedom,' 'patriot,' and 'terrorism' have been turned into media buzz words. We have seen this type of manipulation before, during other times in other countries, and if we fail to acknowledge and understand history, then we are doomed to repeat it.

It works as follows: first, these powerful words are chosen, because of their significance to the people, by those who wish to extend their reach. These words are then abused, misused, and overused so extremely to the point where they become meaningless. The media is often used, and has been, to enable the nullification of their meanings. Once their true meanings have been completely forgotten, the government is then free to redefine these words however they choose, and to distribute those definitions to an unassuming and unaware population. 'Freedom' becomes the will of the government. 'Terrorist' becomes anyone who speaks out against their government. 'Patriot' becomes an obedient servant to the empire. 'Citizen' becomes subject. 'President' becomes dictator.

Our schools have betrayed us because they have failed to teach us to think critically. They've failed to adequately explain history and stress its importance. They've failed to adequately instill in us the meaning and value of the ideas our country was founded upon, and the great sacrifice that was necessary to do so. Education is no longer a service, it is a business. America gets dumber as the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the powerful become more powerful.

The world has watched this happening and has heard the deafening silence of the American people, who either no longer care about or no longer pay attention to the reality around them. Complacency, inaction, and hopelessness are the enemies of free people, and America is ripe with them.

The objective of our form of government is to empower the people. The Framers constructed our government specifically around the basis that we govern ourselves. It is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and therefore, it is we the people who are ultimately responsible for the actions of our government. Questioning and changing our government for the better is not only our right as Americans, but our undeniable and inescapable duty as members of a self-governing body.

About the author:

Name: Adam
Age: 25
Country: United States
State: Michigan
Gender: Male
Income: Medium
Occupation: Authorized Inspector
Website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQAl8jsvyCU

David from Missouri - No Amnesty

2007-07-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

I recently received an e-mail inviting me to write a letter addressed to the United States telling the world how I feel about any and all topics relating to the United States which would be posted at a site called Blog to America. I took a little time checking out the site and found it very interesting. So, here we go.

I’ve had my own blog site, A Republic, if you can keep it since February of 2005. I’ve posted many messages there about our broken immigration policy and our wide open borders. I’ve written a countless number of letters to my elected officials urging them to get to work on the problem. I’ve let them know that I will remember them the next time I see their name on a ballot if they don’t do what most United States citizens feel is the right thing to do.

The best thing they can come up with is an amnesty deal for the estimated 12 million illegal aliens that are in the country now and a guest worker program for the ones that want to come in and work for low wages until their visa expires. They will go home, apply for another visa and return again. Big business will love it. They will be able to keep their labor cost down without the expense of moving the factory over seas. This will make it difficult for United States citizens to find jobs that pay a livable wage.

Our elected officials and the main stream media tell us it would be next to impossible to round up all of the illegal aliens that are in the country and send them home. I don’t feel a massive round up is needed. Let ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) continue their raids on factories. Increase the fine for hiring illegal aliens to about $10,000 per illegal alien. Soon they won’t be able to find work. Fine landlords and realtors that provide them with housing, not having a roof over their head should be reason enough to leave the country on their own. Some of them will be pulled over for traffic violations or be involved in domestic disputes. Get rid of the catch and release policy that is now in place and replace it with a catch and deport policy.

Today I heard that one of my United States Senators, Kit Bond is planning on supporting the latest amnesty bill. All I can say is, Kit I hope you have another job lined out because I will do all I can do to stop you from being re-elected.

If I sound like a bigot or racist I’m sorry you feel that way. I don’t feel that I am. I’m not opposed to immigration. I’m opposed to someone breaking our law by entering the country illegally. If your thinking of immigrating to the United States I just want you to jump through all of the required hoops to become a citizen. Then I will welcome you as a citizen and a friend. After all this country is mostly made of immigrants. Each of them had something special to offer, that’s what makes this country great.

God Bless America, God Save The Republic.

About the Author:

Name: David Schantz
Age: 56
Country: United States
City: Saint Joseph
State: Missouri
Gender: Male
Income: Medium
Occupation: Pollution Control Plant Operator
Experience With US: Currently Live in the United States
Website: http://arepublic.blogspot.com/

LaRoacha from US - General Taste for America

2007-05-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Community,

I'm posting as a middle aged American. I'm 45 years old and have had the experience of being in a US Marine in my youth and I am now just a simple construction worker. I've been all over the world and I've seen the attitudes of a lot of different cultures and nationalities. In my travels, I noticed that most French people I met had no use for Americans even though we bailed them out of a couple of wars....no biggie....we're used to being crapped on. The surprise I had was that most of the English I met overseas pretty much hated Americans as well. I've never been to England, but I ran into some in Asia and most I ran into were really anti- American, and this was in the cold war Reagan day's....not the "Bush is a dolt" day's..........My heritage is English and I really want to like people from the UK, but I have to admit that I kicked the shit outta one Brit who just twisted me the wrong way in Thailand. I went to Australia and even though there was a anti-nuclear welcoming party to our arrival, most Aussies really seemed to like having us around. I was in Italy, and I gotta say....they were nice and seemed to love us to the extreme. Most liberal people tend to think that everything America does is tied to some grand scheme to somehow mess over some weaker nation, and if that so,sorry. Most citizens of the US just want to freaking get along, and we don't perceive our leaders as evil people. I think you guy's are just seeing things from a standpoint that you are somehow not the alpha dog, which is really sad actually. Even if your country was in that position, you, as an individual really don't have any more power, it just that you perceive that your standing would be improved as a member of a stronger nation. Really, it's pretty sad...

About the Author:

Name: LaRoacha
Age: 45
Country: US

Roger from Oklahoma - Reality

2007-03-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

Dear America,

I read many of these letters to America but they are really not addressed to America. They are addressed to the writer's concept and visions of America, a phantasm created by their own cultures media, American TV and movies, and their own personal experiences.

I live in America. People in America don’t consume energy at three times the rate of a European. People don’t go and buy buy buy. People don’t live in houses like those in American TV. They don’t have police stations in America like in CSI. People in America do not act like the Americans in TV shows. New York has almost nothing to do with the rest of the United States.

People in America do worry about money. They scrimp on gasoline. They pay enormous taxes to live in a house. They shop on craig's list. Many people have never been on an airplane. They have never traveled more than 500 miles from their houses. Many who live west of the Mississippi have never been east of the Mississippi. Many people in the South have never been in NY. People in Iowa dream of visiting San Francisco.

People in America are consumed by the work of daily life. They say live and let live, but dont impose your religion or morality or way of life on us. And "your" could be the morality and religion of Washington, or Paris, or Oslo, or Mogadishu.

People in America are puzzled by TV news which tries to lie to them by presenting versions of reality rather than news, to once great papers like the New York Times which seem to be run by college dropouts from Soviet Union think tanks, by fanatics like Al Gore or David Dukes.

People in America see danger around the world stemming not from armies massing in distant countries, but my a politicization of false beliefs held by people both within and without her borders.

About the Author:

Name: Roger Hornbeck
Age: 47
Country: United States
City: Tulsa
State: Oklahoma
Gender: Male
Income: Medium
Occupation: Retired
Experience With US: Currently Live in the United States

John from Pennsylvania

2007-03-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Global Community,

I'll worry about the US when the wall under construction on our southern border is being built to keep me in instead of keeping them out.

About the Author

Name: John Cunningham
Age: 59
City: Haverford
State: PA
Gender: Male
Income: Medium
Occupation: Retired

Larry from Alabama

2007-03-04T07:52:00.001-08:00

Dear Global Community,

I was going thru some of the letters that were submitted and just wanted to voice my opinion about a few things. But first, a thing or two about myself. I'm a Southerner here in the States and a Republican as well. I voted for President Bush and I support his policy on Iraq as well as Iran.

I think that President Bush was right to go into Iraq. He tried to go the diplomatic route, but it didn't work. He tried to go thru the United Nations, but all the wanted to do was the same thing they'd been doing for over a decade. Give empty warnings to Iraq. Saddam had been committing atrocities for years in that country, and what did the UN do about it? Nothing. He was accumulating weapons of mass destruction. And it wasn't just the intelligence agency of America saying so. France and Britain and a host of other countries. So in my opinion, President Bush didn't have a choice in the matter. It was either address the issue, or sit back and do nothing until we had another Hitler on our hands.

As for Iran, I honestly can't understand how anyone in this world could fault us for taking an aggressive stance with them. Who could possibly think that a nuclear Iran wouldn't be dangerous? And besides, we've tried the diplomatic route by offering them aid, financial assistance, lifting trade embargos, etc etc. And yet their leader continues to spew rhetoric about how they have a right to nuclear power.

And lastly, I do agree with the people who've mentioned that America shouldn't be the world's police. But frankly, I don't see anybody else stepping up to the plate to do it.

About the Author

Name: Larry
Age: 36
State: Alabama
Gender: Male
Income: Medium
Occupation: Technical

Cristobal from Arizona

2007-03-04T07:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Global Community,

Where to start...

Americans are complex, passionate, organized, yet troubled individuals, just like everyone else in the world. People seem to hate us, we see Palestinians, for example, burning effigies of Americans in their dusty streets (it seems to be a different group every week, depending on where the president goes and what he says, where he doesn't go...)

People (by people, I mean foreigners) also seem to think they know something about us we, ourselves, don't know....because their news source is The Economist, and our news sources are biased, of course.

The problem might be in our animal nature, in what St. Agustine called the libido dominandi, the will to dominate. Every sentient being, including plants, competes to survive. In order for me to have, I must take. This includes the will to win arguments, to give advice and demand our conversers take it, to be right...or to pretend to be the bigger person by allowing the other person to be right.

If someone has what I want, I might try to take it, and if I lose the challenge and I can't take the thing I want by force or by negotiation, I become resentful.

Envy is another important element in "America hatred"

Competition has always made people hate each other. Or maybe it was the people in power who made the people hate each other in order to make them fight harder against their common enemy. Or in order to make them fight at all. Every nation on earth, by virtue of its existence, is in competition, even if there is no competition. (I mean even if we are dealing with countries on opposite sides of the development line.)

It is easy to turn the "other" into the enemy, for the sake of a common enemy, if for nothing else. This builds camraderie among the citizens....There are many benefits.

I can go on forever. This stuff is too dense to talk about in a single letter. And even if I did talk about everything, I'd still remain an ignorant American who doesn't really know what's going on in the world because I'm too busy ridin' my atv (the foreigners "prawlly" have no idea what the hell that is) and being ensconced in my affluence to see the world as it really is.

Here's another idea. In the states, we only see the more sophisticated foreigners who speak English and have enough money to come here. And since we're students, we are mostly acquainted with those foreigners who decide to go for a degree here. This is like the .0001th percentile. I have Mexican relatives who contemplated how long it would take to get to Spain by bus. This is unfathomable here. There are people in the world who still believe in magic (yes, even in the states) we all know some of the ridiculous things people in the world believe. My point is that we Americans tend to think foreigners are somehow intelligent. Or more intelligent than ourselves. We associate intelligence with Einstein's foreign accent, and since the idiots from the Frankfurt School had the same accent, we thought they, too, were intelligent.

Foreigners came up with such disastrous catastrophes as the Holocaust, Slavery, Imperialism, communism...the US came up with the A-bomb to end all of that non-sense.

Our empire will have been dwarfed by the greatness of the Roman Empire. Let us have our day in the sun. Maybe I should say, We shall have our day in the sun.

"Once more onto the breach dear friends, once more. or close the wall up with our English dead. In peace there is nothing more becomes a man than modest stillness and humility, but when the sounds of war ring in our ears, imitate the action of the Tiger"

-from Shakespeare's Henry V.

About the Author

Name: Cristobal Colon
Age: 26
City: Tempe/Mesa
State: Arizona
Gender: Male
Income: Low
Occupation: Conceptual Artist

William from Florida

2007-03-03T01:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Global Community,

This will be what may turn out to be a dose of hard truth. I am an American, born in the state of Florida and currently residing in the Tri-State area. What I am about to write here constitutes some strong feelings that have been haunting me for nearly eight years now.

I am neither Democrat nor Republican in my political views, I merely believe in common sense. I understand that no candidate is perfect, and each has their flaws and accolades. I am not merely a "Bush Hater" nor an extreme leftist as I would be eagerly branded by my fellow countrymen.

This has got to stop. The President of the United States is the highest office and elected leader can hold in our country, and with this position one is expected to set an example for the country. Our current leader is neither doing this nor is he interested in the well being of it's citizens.

From the time he has taken office, he has summarily lied to his nation nonstop for personal gain and at our expense. This person has waged war on multiple countries under false pretense. This man has orchestrated the greatest acts of treason in our history with the now blatantly obvious orchestration of the 9/11 "terror" attacks.

We are Americans, and we pride ourselves on not falling for fascism. Our country was founded in this very principle in 1776. We fought fascism in both world wars with success, and we stood up to communism and violations of human rights afterwards.

And yet, somehow, we are quickly losing all of the liberties and freedoms our forefathers lost their lives for. Six years ago when these atrocities began to pour in, it was people like myself who blatantly tried to tell our country it was an inside job, and that he was going to try to send us into a never-ending war.

We were short of persecuted as conspiracy nuts, or eliminated as some type of dissenting witch hunt. Four years into his presidency, when he was up for re-election, we had overwhelming proof from all sides that we were already marching into a fascist regime and that all we had to do was simply elect somebody else in order to put a stop to it.

Yet, this man was re-elected for a second term. He spent the first four years lying to us non-stop, and yet we somehow believed him when he said he was telling the truth for re-election. Many of us still believe he is not and has not lied to the very people he has sworn to protect and serve.

Look, even if you still believe that terrorists did in fact attack the world trade center, you still have to ask why we haven't caught the man responsible. Last time I checked, this is what the war on terror was about - Al Quaeda and the capture of Osama Bin Laden. It has been nearly two presidential terms, and we are waging wars in countries that had little to no connection with the WTC attacks.

And as a country, we are allowing it in our names. This is an atrocity at the very best, and absolute treason at it's worst. The man who has sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America has been eroding and eliminating those very same freedoms from day one. At this moment in time, the Bill of Rights has essentially been eliminated, and much of the Constitution itself is under the watchful scrutiny of those who would wish to practice revisionism for their own sake.

We live in an age where information is freely available for the asking. All we have to do is a search on Google, and all of the evidence and proof unfolds. But we simply do not do this for some odd reason.

This inaction reminds me of when Hitler wrote a book called Mein Kampf detailing every single thing he was planning to do and where he stood on issues, available on bookshelves across the country. And still nobody read it, and after the world war, the people who suffered ignorance and apathy told the world that they had no clue he was doing such horrible things; which was a total fabrication sine people clearly did know ahead of time.

Well, now all of the treasonous acts against our country, the lies, the preemptive wars (ignoring Geneva conventions), the concentration camp known as Guantanamo Bay, the calm elimination of our Bill of Rights at his discretion, and so much more go unnoticed by the majority of people in this country.

And for the people that know these things are going on, it is still a shameful act to sit idly by and allow him to continue. Just because you conquered your ignorance does not mean you can still latch onto your apathy as a convenience.

Is witnessing a murder but doing nothing to stop it, and even authorizing it, still a crime even though your weren't the one to commit the murder? Of course it is... so why is it so hard to accept what is going on, and then stand up to it?

Remember, doing nothing but watching as a murderer pulls the trigger makes you just as guilty as doing it yourself. And this is a concept I truly hope hits home with this country.

I still would like to believe that America and it's citizens are not as stupid and apathetic as the rest of the world seems to believe. So far though I have little to disprove the rest of the world, and I simply wish above all else that we as a people finally put our feet down and say enough is enough.

We owe it to our founding fathers.

We owe it to ourselves.

We owe it to future generations.

When my son or daughter looks back in the history books and reads about this time period, and when this child looks me in the eyes and asks his or her daddy what he did during these times to try and stop it - I will say in all honesty "Everything I could."

I believe it's high time the rest of America legitimately make that claim as well, making our forefathers proud. The rest of the world used to look up to us (maybe not the French) and now they see us as a threat to Freedom, Democracy and Liberty.

Pretty ironic since we as a country apparently live by that code. We are simply acting shameful and like cowards. This man, George W Bush, is garnering Unilateral power over America... and no, this is not a good thing. All I am asking is to make some waves, let this administration know their actions will not be tolerated. There is so much more I wish to say in this letter, but I realize that I couldn't possibly cover a fraction of what this man has done in our names.

So I will simply close this open letter to America, hoping that the components which enlighten you, as well as motivate you.

Sincerely,

William Burns III

About the Author

Name: William Burns III
Age: 28
Country: USA
Gender: Male
Occupation: VR Designer
Website: http://www.vr5-online.com

Anja from America

2007-02-28T21:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Global Community,

I have your answers : why Americans do nothing about their government:

The reasons why Americans are not doing anything is because they are complacent. They need a real tragedy to directly create change in their lives. They need to be physically hurt or their families before any action will be taken.

To be in-convenienced for a long period of time.

Things first need to become inconvenient, Americans thrive on convenience. If for a longer period of time their personal lives, daily commute to work, gas prices, prices of beef go up and become problematic then they will start being inquisitive and seek guidance.

Until then Americans will do nothing. There is no real risk for them, their lives won't change dramatically, the corporations protect their gas prices making sure that they remain complacent about global warming by making their beloved SUV's still affordable enough to drive around in. SUV's make Americans feel big protected and important and powerful. Also buying American trucks makes them feel patriotic.

Also as long as the oil and corn industry in the US remains strong so will factory farming remain strong and global warming will become worse. Factory farming is subsidized by corn, corn in return is subsidized by the government which in turn is run by the oil corporations of the world.
As long as beef and meat products full of hormones are cheap, Americans have nothing to complain about, and you bet the US government will make sure that their complacent citizens will not know or hear or really care about what is going on in the rest of the world as long as:

Gas prices don't go up too high, beef and meat remains cheap, Walmart remains cheap (Americans don't care that stuff is made in china) as long that it remains affordable and convenient.

Also young people just want to go about their lives, if you want to make Americans care you have to re-instate a draft (not going to happen because the US does not want people to wake up).

That is why nothing is ever going to change this government, because it will make sure that the people of the US can keep living their convenient lives without much change.

People do care but it takes time and effort something most people don't want to invest their spare time into and until their lives are totally impacted and given a detour they will not make an effort, it has to impact them directly.

Generally people who have family members who die of strange diseases eventually set up charities or start creating organizations to help others suffering from what their loved one died from, the same goes for people who start animal shelters and rehab facilities for drug addicts, in one way or another they were personally affected.

We Americans do care but your life is not our life, yes some of us have relatives over there in the military, but they are only over there because they hope to come back alive and get $40,000 in US government grants to maybe be able to go to college and forget about their wasted time in Iraq or where ever they are sent to. Most of the men/woman in the military are just 18, are too lazy to really get a decent job, going to the military forces them to just follow orders and not be in control of their lives, it's again finding a convenient escape to the harder life of writing resumes back home to work at McDonald's or Pizza Hut.

By joining they feel they are doing something patriotic and that they won't be made fun of by their friends and family, because if they do join; their families and friends can't really make fun of them because then they in turn would be unpatriotic. So it's a temporary escape for most of them, it's not serious for them it's a short stop in life for them being in a foreign place. As long as they have a base nearby that are ok.

WE care but we're too lazy to do anything about it, except better our own lives, like the rest of the people in the world.

About the Author

Name: Anja
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Income: High
Occupation: Graduate