America isn't Great

Why is America the greatest country in the world?

Will McAvoy

It's NOT the greatest country in the world.

Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS!

And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so star spangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

You know, sometimes it's easy to get discouraged trying to be a good American. It is so easy to look up ways to move to Canada and get free healthcare for life.

Between angry mobs for certain political parties and angry Wal Mart shoppers and quite literally dodging bad cops; it's easy to give up on homegrown patriotism.

When I was a kid, we were taught that the Founding Fathers were basically American Gods that we should aspire to be like. We were taught that Democracy is what makes us the greatest country. We were taught that our country is above everyone else's because Americans are pure of heart and fair. Up until August 2001, I believed these. I was 7 years old and very proud of my country, I was already loving my history classes and my mom would take me to the library to check out American History books.

Then, at 7:45 am on September 11th 2001, my world changed forever.

I was happily eating Eggos and watching Spongebob when the news cut in and I watched on live TV as the Twin Towers were hit.

We learned hard lessons that day as the Millennial Generation, that sometimes bad things happen and not even the adults know what to do.

That weekend, I went to work with my mom and I was still shaken up about the live footage I saw. I remember getting mad at the radio because all they talked about was the towers and every time someone brought it up, all I could see was the plane hitting the first tower. Today, I can still see the smoke and debris falling from the towers and people falling.

But while I was at work with my mom, she was helping out a friend for an event so she was checking people in that were setting up tables and chairs and catering stuff. I watched as a woman with a hijab slowly walked to the desk.

I am ashamed to say that I was afraid. The news ever since the terror attack had been pushing everyone on screen that looked like this woman. She couldn't have been more than 25 maybe.

My mom smiled and asked her how she was doing, what she can help with, etc.

This beautiful young woman with a delicate blue scarf wrapped carefully around her hair started crying. My mom walked around the counter and hugged her, and asked if she was okay.

"I'm sorry." She said between sobs. "It's just, you're the first person to treat me kindly since ...." she trailed off as she kept crying.

I reached down and took an unopened water bottle from my bag and a small pack of tissues. I walked over to her and offered her both.

She smiled at me and took a tissue.

I think about her a lot when I hear people blame all Muslim people for 9/11. It makes me wonder if we ever had