The greatest country in the world…not so much anymore. I’m living proof: in 1999, my SAT scores
showed a young man ready to take over the planet. I scored better than 99% of American juniors
in English, 89% in Science, and 83% in Mathematics. However, by 2013, I’ve never graduated
college, I can still only speak one language with any effluence, and I’m
working up my fourth career path the hard way.
What happened?
The rest of the world seems to believe America is just
lazy. We are too busy living in luxury
to bother with the gritty stuff like education, especially beyond high school. To an extent, they’re absolutely right. America has gotten lazy about
everything from how to handle healthcare to what happens on Capitol Hill. We don’t pay attention to our own country,
much less anyone else’s. In that regard,
it’s easy to understand why arrogant and self-centered often describe us
Westerners.
There is another side to our “laziness.” We are busy, but not everyone is busy living
it up on some New York skyscraper. Oh,
sure, we’ve got it kicked compared to third world countries; I’m not arguing
that at all. If it were otherwise, America
would have long since lost its world-power status. No…I’m talking about the America that works
hands to the bone. The average American books
it hard to make his dollars for bread and milk, gas and electricity. We’re so busy worrying about the next bill
that we fear trying to get a higher education.
We’ve got kids to care for. We’ve
got a car payment. We’ve got debt we’ll
never get out from under before death. So
much for being #1.
From that, America is doomed, right? Perhaps not.
According to Thomas Friedman, Americans are “just too dumb to
quit.” You know, he’s absolutely
right. We keep moving forward,
attempting one thing after another until we settle into something we’re willing
to put our blood, sweat, and tears into.
From big business and global marketing to indie-publishing and mom ‘n’
pop shops, Americans find their own reason to exist…just like everybody else on
the planet.
I’m sorry…no honestly…I’m sorry I don’t know a
second language. I’m sorry if I don’t
understand why England drinks tea all the time.
I’m even sorry that I don’t understand the cultural significance of
French women not shaving. You know, when
I’m less busy paying the bills, I’ll learn French and come visit you in
Paris. I’ll drink tea on your
patio. I’ll safari on the plains of
Australia. I just need a little
something in my pocket first, preferably earned from the greatest country in
the world.
The “Top
10 Controversial Topics about the US,”
by Al Davenport, inspired this post. There are a few good points, though
I don’t agree with everything (it is controversial
topics, after all). Thank you for
reading, and please leave any comments below, regardless of your nationality!
James Neal is constantly searching for the next paycheck. He hasn’t had a pizza in over three weeks,
and it’s about to drive him crazy. If
you see him, could you maybe spare him a pepperoni Hot-Pocket? If not, at least visit and perhaps follow him
on Twitter, @BloodandBlade. He also has an author page on Facebook here.
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