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I’m Not Thankful To Be An American

It Could Be Worse, But it SHOULD Be Better

By Jason ProvencioPublished about a year ago Updated about a year ago 5 min read
Top Story - November 2022
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I do not feel the vibe that some domestic terrorists felt on January 6th, 2021. Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

Well, it’s Thanksgiving Weekend 2022. A day of family, friends, food, and thankfulness. I have a lot to be thankful for.

I’m thankful for many things this year. One of the new ones for me is being thankful for being a writer. I couldn’t say the same last Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for the opportunity to write so many blogs and to make so many wonderful friends. It’s been awesome to have a voice these past 11 months.

I’m always going to use that voice. Some won’t like what I’m going to say. I’ve come to find that there’s absolutely no way to make everyone happy, as a writer. No matter how well you write, and no matter how many good things you stand up for, someone is going to think you’re an asshole.

So be it. So I’ll say what I’m going to say: I’m NOT thankful to be an American. I’ve hit the point where I’m truly disgusted by a number of things going on in our nation, and by some of its citizens. We have quite a bit NOT to be proud of, as a less than fully-evolved nation.

You hear people of a certain age and political affiliation mention making America “great” again. The United States has seen its better days, certainly. But GREAT again? Would we call ourselves a great nation?

Some would argue that we have been great in the past. I’d love to know what criteria we’re judging that against. The number of nuclear weapons in our arsenal? Sure. We have a shit ton. We’ve only used two against innocent people of an enemy nation before. We’re also the only country that has ever committed that atrocity. Twice.

We’re the only country to ever use nuclear bombs against humanity. Innocent Women and children died at the hands of our country. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Guns? The number of guns in our country outnumbers our citizens. We have mass shootings almost daily. The Wild West, masturbating-to-our-weapons mentality has made public places a crap shoot here in 2022.

Shit, I need to run to Costco for a couple of more pies. Better put on my flak jacket and Kevlar helmet. Maybe I can get someone else to deliver, instead. Better them than me.

Well, at least we care about all of our citizens and countrymen and women. Shit. We don’t? A large segment of our country doesn’t give a flying fuck about the safety and care of people of color, LGBTQ citizens, or immigrants. How soon we forget that almost all of our ancestors came here as immigrants at some point.

The children, though. We love babies here in America, right? I mean, at least when they’re in utero. Once they’re born, many people don’t want to feed them or give poor families or single mothers the financial assistance needed to properly care for them. They’re somebody else’s problem, right?

How about other groups of struggling people? At least we’re able to make sure nobody goes to bed hungry at night. Veterans, people struggling with addiction or mental illness at least aren’t homeless, hungry, and cold, right? Fuck, I guess not.

So who or what do we care about, as Americans? Ourselves. Our stuff. Corporations. People who look like we do and worship the same God. If you’re into Jesus, you’re just all right with me. If you worship any other religious figure, fuck your feelings. You’re not a real American if you don’t celebrate and revere White Jesus. Wait, he was MIDDLE EASTERN?

Lies. Fake news. Propaganda the liberal snowflakes want you to believe. White Jesus would be all about capitalism, pulling yourselves up by your bootstraps, and he’d certainly be in favor of the party of law and order. I mean, we go to church when it’s not football season, or if none of the games on TV are any good.

How is your health insurance these days? Do you have good, affordable coverage? Or any at all? Photo by Online Marketing on Unsplash

Ok, we’re thankful that at least we have great healthcare available to all. Affordable. Comprehensive. Huh? Jesus Murphy, not even THAT? How do all of these other civilized countries manage to care for their elderly and sick? Oh, they don’t have an overinflated, ridiculous military budget sucking a huge portion of the nation’s budget. That’s how.

We’ll fix that. As more and more people take advantage of higher education and its affordable nature, we’ll become a better nation full of more educated, better leaders. Wait, really? Less than 1 in 4 receive a four-year college degree in the United States? That’s pretty abysmal.

Perhaps that’s why our country is sinking and sinking fast. We are not admired, loved, and respected by the other leading nations on the world stage. Perhaps electing horrible leadership has turned us into the joke of Planet Earth.

I realize that there are far less desirable, more restrictive countries one can live in. Some of you may tell me that perhaps I should move to one of those countries if I’m not satisfied with the condition our nation is in. That’s silly. I’m not going to leave the United States to go live in Iraq, Russia, or North Korea.

Still, that leaves 192 others to choose from. Even if you wipe out half or 75% of the more-restrictive, less-appealing nations on this planet, there are still choices. Sweden is the #1 rated country for quality of life in 2022. Denmark comes in at #2, and Canada, our friendly neighbors to the north, at #3.

There are 17 more countries on our planet with higher-ranked qualities of life than the United States. We finally show up later to the party, half-drunk, at #21. Better late than never, I guess.

There are certainly other options. And ones that my family and I will be thankful to have the choice to consider as options, should the US of A keep spiraling out of control as we head into 2023.

Get your shit together, America. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. If your quality of life is feeling crappy in the land of the free and the home of the graves, you’re not required to be thankful to be an American today on Thanksgiving.

There are plenty of other things to be thankful for. We have the freedom of choices in America. Just be sure not to leave the reproductive ones up to the women. The Supreme Court doesn’t think they’re capable of making those on their own.

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About the Creator

Jason Provencio

78x Top Writer on Medium. I love blogging about family, politics, relationships, humor, and writing. Read my blog here! &:^)

https://medium.com/@Jason-P/membership

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Comments (20)

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  • Mary Haynes8 months ago

    Well written and true with an eye roll style! It’s too bad it won’t resonate with the folks who need to hear it, but even if it helps one person understand how crazy things have become, it’s worth the attempt.

  • I'm always back and forth from my homes in the USA, as you can see from some of my stories, and I usually travel because I want to get away for a bit of an extended vacation. I always return home, but I'm glad I have the ability to see the other side of the coin. It allows me to take a varied perspective on life in general. Nice story.

  • Well deserved Top Story, we have featured this in the Community Adventure in the Vocal Social Society Facebook Group and would love for you to join us there

  • Dan McGinnisabout a year ago

    Well said...and thank you for writing it!

  • Aza Y Alamabout a year ago

    A relief to hear a sane voice coming out of America - the land of white immigrants, whose German-origin leader fostered hate towards all peoples not of European origin. The stylistics of peice made it outstanding. The connections such as the health care in other nations not being possible due to the military expenditure, likewise, revealing truths too often hidden.

  • Laura Lannabout a year ago

    Well said! I think you effectively used wording and questions to drive the bleak frustration many of us feel home. The snarky humor sprinkled in is delightful as well.

  • marie e ehlenbachabout a year ago

    Well said!

  • Moncé H. Lariosabout a year ago

    VOTING / PRESIDENT / POLITICS / POLITICIANS / OPINION / LEGISLATION / HISTORY / DEFENSE / CORRUPTION / CONTROVERSIES / CONGRESS / ACTIVISM This piece is categorized under everything under the sun minus a RANT. Which is all this is. It's complaining, whining, and hypocrisy at it's base form, not an engaging discussion in the slightest. Your tone is what immediately weakens your opinion because as I said before it conotatates a lack of maturity with the use of aggressive, sarcastic, and insulting vocabulary towards your opposing views. You don't sound like an adult concerned about real world problems, you sound like an angry, hypocritical child who doesn't even present and/or kick-start a potential solution to the problems you wish to shine a light to. Finding like minded readers doesn't make your writing good, you're simply feeding the anger of other like minded people, and none of you engage in discussions for a solution to the problems you so vehemently point out. Not to mention one of these problems in particular, the nuclear bombing of Japan is already in the past and can't even be mended, only atoned for. You also don't strengthen your points with profound evidence, and you blatantly showcase your lack of open-mindedness by not discussing counter-arguments, nor the pros and cons of opposing and your personal political views. If you want your opinion piece to be seen and respected by those you want to reach you should present it with more decorum and research in your writing.

  • Noah Adekunle Adetilewaabout a year ago

    Splendid article! Give us more.

  • Debbie Centenoabout a year ago

    I couldn't agree more. It is sad to see what the US has become. I know many people who continue to believe it is the greatest country on Earth, but that's probably because they've never stepped foot outside the US. Therefore, they have nothing to compare. I travel often and can see that there are other countries that offer their citizens so much more than what we have. While there are some countries which are far worst than us.

  • Frances Leah Brownabout a year ago

    Thanks for that.

  • Amelia Reilingabout a year ago

    While I agree with some of this, I am thankful to be an American. We are extremely fortunate to be here.

  • Babs Iversonabout a year ago

    There's a lot to fix. I prefer action to rhetoric! Working together instead of divisiveness! Finding solutions, instead of exacerbating the problems.

  • Mark Gagnonabout a year ago

    I've traveled to various countries around the globe and I have to agree that some do things much better than we do. Others don't even come close. If you have the time, check out my story, "The Ubiquitous They" to view my take on things. I think you may find some similarities.

  • Kendall Defoe about a year ago

    As a Canadian, I think you might have nailed it!

  • Steve Lanceabout a year ago

    I could not disagree more. I am very thankful for all the opportunities my country has given me. Sure there is a long list of items that can be improved. And many sins that can be pointed out. But you find that in all societies. I consider this article nothing more than a self-indulgent rant. F-this and F-that; so poorly expressed.

  • Jaia Khanabout a year ago

    Really appreciate someone being honest about the current national situation. This place isn't somewhere to be proud of, anymore. I say 'anymore' because when I was a kid, blind to the atrocities this nation has committed, I was proud to be [African] American. But the more I grew up, paid attention, researched, and experienced, I figured this place out. It's set up for one particular group of people to succeed and all others, to fail. Some of them, unaware they're even failing. That's how deep it goes here and how subtle some of the oppressive tactics are, living here. I AM considering leaving this place behind, as I want to cease my contribution to the fuckery, in any capacity. Costa Rica is said to have an amazing ex-pat community (and you can bring your pets!). Empires have expiration dates and I'd like to be gone before US has forced retirement. Come with me! Anyone! LOL xxoo

  • Kat Noveabout a year ago

    I couldn't have said or written it better myself. I feel exactly as you do. I get a close up look at shitty America as I live in Texas. Thanks for writing this.

  • Ameya Raoabout a year ago

    As a Canadian having lived in the New York for the past five years I couldn't agree more. I think many of us outside the U.S fall victim to the "american dream" without taking into account all the caveats, we think that if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere, but at what cost? I wish this was mandatory reading at customs & immigration lol. Really well written piece!

  • Shah Hussainabout a year ago

    Nice work.... How to upgrade my account...and how get more money from it???

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