Something's Not Right Here...

Howdy, dear friends. I've been saving up for this blog so you're in for a treat. Some time ago, a close friend of mind decided that I'm not patriotic. Or rather, I don't like America enough. I'm not sure how this person arrived at this conclusion. After all, if I hated this place then I'd leave. And what would I do without such miraculous and purely American things such as: hotdogs, baseball, consumerism (I have a problem with purchasing DVDs), TELEVISION, HOLLYWOOD (which I still haven't seen in person), and the most magical city I have ever set foot in: NEW YORK CITY. Plus, thanks to Zell Miller, I'm not going to owe a bazillion dollars when I get out of college (only a tens of thousands). Also, apple pie. And I think John F. Kennedy is hot. And Abraham Lincoln. I would hit that.

No, I kind of like my relatively easy life. I don't have to go out and scavenge for food and I didn't have to shoot people at the tender age of eight. I've got AC, running water, plumbing, and McDonald's. I also have my own TV, an iPhone, and a working laptop. I'll stay at this disgusting institution called college for a few more years and then I'll be...something. I'll make the same amount of money (probably less) as my parents did. I'll probably live in the same kind of area I grew up in and essentially live my life the exact same until I'm so old that my kids take care of me and I eventually die. I'll have a comfortable life and nothing too terrible will ever happen to me. Unless I get some disease or any of the various types of apocalypse scenarios ensue, that would be another story.

HOWEVER, and I say this with great love and affection in my heart, America in 2010 is not a happy place. It isn't a grand utopia and it is not "the greatest country on earth." Maybe it used to be. Maybe it has the potential to be. But no, I'd have to argue that it is not the greatest. Perhaps top ten. And it really depends on what we're judging "greatness" by here. Is it how happy people are? How much money we make? The freedoms we have and don't have? Certainly, anyone can typically walk out of their house and not expect to be blown up. I can dress like a total prostitute and not be stoned in the street. Just because there are places worse than America, doesn't mean America is the best. Also, DISCLAIMER: I'm not an anarchist, communist, socialist, etc. Please don't call the cops and have me arrested, I'm already on probation. Thanks.

Did you know that in America, the greatest country in the world, 1 in 7 Americans is below the poverty line set by the government (which is: less than $10,000 annually for a single person and less than $22,000 annually for a family of four)? There are almost 40 million people (including 12 million children) who live below the poverty line, 19 million of which are considered "impoverished." However, 90% of Americans consider themselves to be middle-class. Well, how on earth can that be if 30% are below the poverty line? Are they embarrassed to admit it? Or is it simply because, hey if there's someone worse off than me, I must not be doing too bad? The pure and simple fact is: the United States is THE MOST economically unequal of any industrialized nation in the world. How could it not be when the top 1% has all the money and so many people are impoverished? The fact is, the middle class is shrinking. More and more people are falling away from the middle class and into the lower class without even realizing. How can there be so much wealth at the top, and so little spread out among the people?

*In the year 2000, an average CEO makes 431 times more than the average employee. And that's not including CEOs like Nike, etc. Obviously that guy makes wayyyy more because your Air Force Ones really get made in Guatemala for about one penny.

*Not just factory jobs are being outsourced. Recently, highly skilled professions such as radiology are being outsourced for much cheaper. All it takes is an email.

*The number one predictor of your SAT score is your family income. Also, later in life it turns out that SAT scores aren't connected AT ALL to graduation rates or success rates in college. Maybe that's why we can't all go to Harvard, hmm?

But hey, what are we supposed to do about the poor? After all, they're only poor because they're lazy, right? If they worked hard they could be just like us middle class people. Maybe they should stop living off welfare and our tax dollars, right? Did you know that you can only claim social welfare advantages for five years total and then you're cut off? Five years. So no, I don't think anyone is conducting their whole lives on the bare minimum that social welfare gets them. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to cut social welfare programs and increase outsourcing, eh Mr. Bush?

Here's another interesting tidbit: did you know that even in developing countries there are no power lines above ground? I mean, how many times has your power gone out when it snows or lightning strikes? It doesn't seem practical at all to leave them above ground. I assumed that's just the way it was done. But no, even in Africa they've got underground power lines. Africa, people. Aren't they supposed to be "uncivilized" or something? The reason why America's infrastructure is crap is because there's no money to change and no one really wants to anyway. There are still natural gas lines in this country made of wood. Maybe if we changed that up a bit, there wouldn't be natural gas explosions like the one in San Bruno, California this week that killed seven people.

Also, the USA has the highest total documented prison and jail population in the world. And that's not including Guantanamo. Everyone knows that's undocumented. "In 2008, over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at year-end — 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 31 adults."(U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics)That means the U.S. has less than 5% of the world's population and 23.4% of the world's prison population. Why? I mean, we've got the death penalty. Did you know states that have the death penalty have higher rates of homicides than states who do not have the death penalty? Also, those rates decrease when the death penalty is taken out of the state and increase when it is reintroduced. I bet they're not connected. Oh, and here's something else I find interesting about the greatest country in the world: if you kill a person of color, you're less likely to be sentenced with the death penalty than if you kill a white person.

Society remains stable as long as people feel that they are above, or better off than others. Seeing as how the majority of Americans are middle class WASPs, you can see why change doesn't seem to happen.

*Target makes more money off of credit card debt from the Target Cards than it does in total sales.

*According to Plato, every culture considers some type of inequality fair.

*Egalitarianism offers little incentive for people to do their best. Meaning, people have to be able to get a reward in order to do something good.

*In 2010, people are working more hours than they have ever worked for less money than the cost of living demands.

Let's not even mention the fact that you still can't marry anyone you love in this country. Canada legalized gay marriage in 2005. Why is this an issue? And don't say because the Bible says so. This isn't a Christa in country. Abortion has been legal since 1973, shut up about it. We aren't overturning Roe v. Wade. Forget about it. And let's not even talk about the fear in America. Here's an article from TIME Magazine about America's fear of outsiders: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1627019,00.html
What's the deal? What happened to the melting pot everyone keeps talking about?

According to the Huffington Post, America is still the richest country on earth. Well, our top 1% is anyway. However, we are not the the happiest country. Why is that? Here I was thinking that money buys happiness. No, it seems that Denmark, Finland, Norway, The Netherlands, Costa Rica, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, Sweden, Israel, Panama, Brazil and Australia all have something we're missing. As expected, the United States failed to make the top 10 but ranked among the highest for obesity and child poverty. Americans spend less than half the amount of time eating as the French, but have three times the obesity rate. “This tells us something about slow food, I think,” Simon Chappele, editor of the report said in an interview with NPR. The report also showed the United States has the lowest mean age for women when they first gave birth, at 25.1 years old.Also, the United States still ranks among the highest for child poverty rates, with one in five children living in poverty. This was only exceeded in Poland, Mexico and Turkey.

According to a 2005 editorial, published in the British Medical Journal and authored by Dr. Tony Delamothe, research done in Mexico, Ghana, Sweden, the U.S. and the U.K. shows that individuals typically get richer during their lifetimes, but not happier. It is family, social and community networks that bring joy to one's life, according to Delamothe. Low unemployment also contributes to happiness. "One thing we know for sure," says the OECD's Chapple, "not having a job makes one substantially less satisfied." Denmark's unemployment rate is just 2%, according the C.I.A.'s World Factbook. Norway's is just 2.6%. The Netherlands: just 4.5%. Many economists concur that a 4% unemployment rate reflects a stable economy. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 9%.

In conclusion I would have to say that no, America is not The Greatest Country That Has Ever Existed On Earth. The richest country, yes. The most productive? Not any more. Yay outsourcing and complicated derivatives on Wall Street! Yet, I have hope that one day it won't be like this anymore. One day, the president will actually be able to do what he says he's going to do without having to make deals in Congress. One day we'll focus more on what is good and beneficial for everyone rather than how much taxes go up. One day we won't be able to buy a semi-automatic weapon from your local Walmart. One day we won't have oil spills that last an entire summer and destroy lives. One day Americans won't be looked at with disdain by the Iraqi people. One day America will live up to it's promises. I think it is easy to see that something is wrong here.