The Problem with America.

I would like to open this with some personal thoughts.

I must first establish that I do like the USA and I think the country has many good things about it. I also believe that these good things are overshadowed by the bad things that seem to plague the country, due to the way sensationalism-driven mediums present information nowadays.

This piece wasn't written to demonize or kick an already struggling country (Yes, it is a struggling country.) I have come to this conclusion from my personal experiences in my travels across the border, not from the information media pushes for views. I am going on my own experiences and observations and nothing else.

My wife and I decided to take a trip to Virginia for the 4th of July festivities and to check out the sites in Washington D.C. She and I decided to drive the backroads and out-of-the-way towns. As these places make up the vast majority of the country and we felt that they would be great to see and experience.

The first leg of the journey we mapped out was through Pennsylvania, the towns and cities we drove through were all nestled in the mountains and valleys around Pittsburgh.

The mountains and valleys in and around Algehnny National Forest were breathtaking and indescribable. We had the privilege of driving through seemingly endless roads carved into the sides of mountains which were covered with expansive coniferous forests, painted in every shade of green you could imagine.

Every now and again, while driving through this picturesque realm removed from reality, you would come by tiny little hamlets nestled within a great expanse of artificially flattened farmland. These little towns were sculpted into the valleys and hillsides between those massive fog-covered peaks. It was like we were driving through a dreamscape, or a world removed from ours.

Then we started to see the flags and banners emblazoned with a particular Cult Leader's name, the one who happened to become the United States President a couple of years ago... you all know the one I'm talking about.

These flags became more prevalent as we drove further into Pennsylvania's out-of-the-way wilderness, which made my wife and I uncomfortable.

Then I saw a cross with a circle painted against a red background on someone's run-down barn. For those of you who don't know, this is the sign of a white supremacist.

In this sea of green beauty, a black and rotting barn that was emblazoned with a carefully painted, racist, symbol of hate for everyone to see...

Political affiliation is one thing, everyone has the right to their own political belief system. No one should have the right to hate another person for skin colour or religious affiliation let alone parade it around like some trophy.

We took the same route on the way back, and I saw another home of an American citizen with the war ensign flag of Nazi Germany draped over the porch of their home.

These two racist people felt no need to hide their hate from everyone. This was concerning to me, coming from a country where our racists and neo-nazi have to hide with masks from Canadian people. I thought long and hard about why these people felt confident enough that they could parade their disgusting racism and anti-semitism for all to see. Truthfully, I really didn't come to any answer until today, a day after we finished our 5 day-long trip down south.

I realize today, after my experience in Virginia, that two nazi sympathizers felt comfortable enough within America's current political, religious, and social environment to tell people that they do believe in the mass murder of people. That they believe an Ayran race is real, and that people they deem inferior should be removed from this world en masse.

Stop and think about that for a minute...

Nazis are comfortable and confident enough in the current social and political situation in the United States Of America that they can be Nazis without persecution, opposition, or degradation from peers.

These two people believe that America's social and governmental landscape agrees with them enough that they can hang banners of hate and not be the targets of opposition. They believed that this bigoted belief system their own ancestors fought so hard and died to destroy only a few short years ago was now acceptable. This baffles me, even now.

I know that not all of America agrees with them, nor would freely allow these people to preach their nonsense. I know, from my experience, that most Americans are trying to be better. They are trying to make their country a better place. I know that the majority of the American people want to have equality and equity among each other.

When I watched, listened, and chatted with the various different people on the streets of Washington D.C. I saw this drive to be better and to make things better in that city. I didn't see people full of hate or loathing, like those two Nazis who felt they were able to show off their hate.

I saw people who were tired of the fighting and the turmoil of their governmental bodies. I saw people tired of struggling against the class system that constantly wears them down. I saw people who loved their country, no matter its flaws. People who saw good in the world around them even when it seems there is none.

I know that so many people from all walks of life and belief systems are down there working towards a better future. From those police officers walking around protecting others and offering people free water on some of the hottest days I've ever experienced in my life, to those individuals who volunteered to patrol the metro stations late at night, making sure people got where they were going safely and unharmed.

Never once did we experience any crime, were targets of discrimination, or fear for our safety in Washington D.C. and Alexandria/Springfield Virginia. Even in the massive gathering of people on the 4th Of July on the National Mall.

The problem with America is its political system and its media's constant need for sensationalist stories to get people's attention. Though racists, nationalists, mass murderers, and religious extremists seem to permeate the news and media outlets in the US. There are just as many people down there fighting the opposite side of the battle.

Those people are trying to make America a better place. They fight to make sure those things are no longer the voice and face of their country, which really does have good things going for it.

This gives me hope that they will be able to make themselves better one day and that all those great things about their country my wife and I experienced won't fall to the wayside in the face of adversity, class disparity, and governmental failure toward its people.