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America is not the greatest country in the world! In the 18 years I have been on this earth I have always wanted to live somewhere else, and not once had I ever felt that the United States was the greatest country in the world. That is not to say that I don’t love America, because I really do love my country I just no longer think it is the greatest place to live anymore. All my life, I have never experienced a time of peace, prosperity, and freedom. I live in an era of recession, restricted freedoms, and war. Before my time, we used to be the leaders, the revolutionaries, and the free; the land we call home used to be the path to opportunity, prosperity, and liberty — but we have lost the way. They have taken away our family members and sent them far off to a foreign land to fight a war based on twisted lies and hidden truths. They have taken away our right to property and prosperity, and they have tricked us to believe that capitalism is not only equated to corporatism, but that it’s the root of our economic recession. They have taken away our vested powers to make the decisions for our country and gave those powers to failed organizations made up of leaders of foreign nations. They have taken away our ability to love whoever we were …show more content…
We used to be the best artists, the best poets, and the best thinkers. We used to care for what our representatives our leaders have said or done. We used to have representatives that actually read bills and argued for days on the wording of these governing documents. We used to wage war on tyranny, not people or individual rights. We used to love talking about liberty, not the American Idol winner or The Bachelorette. We used to be the country of opportunity and of prosperity — we used to be the country that respects and never infringes on anyone’s rights. We used to be the country that believes we can always do better. We used to encourage intelligence not belittle it. It didn’t make us feel
Dubbed as “The Greatest Country in the World” by god knows who, America is not as awesome and free as some may see. In doing a close reading of Heather Christle’s “Five Poems for America”, we can see how the author uses metaphors to portray a flawed American, specifically within its political system, religion, obsession with technology and basic human rights. Americans have been living with the oppression of these everyday issues, completely oblivious thus creating the America we infamously know today.
America: land of the free and home of the brave. Stretching from coast to coast, it’s a nation that claims liberty and justice for all – but what really makes America so great? Is it the astonishing skyline of New York City, a skyline that exemplifies all that we’ve accomplished? Is it the abundance of popular culture and fame produced in the shiny, dream-making city of Hollywood? Maybe it’s the way our ancestors victoriously conquered the fertile, prosperous land that once belonged to the now seemingly forgotten indigenous people.
...the America that is known and loved today. Although, empowerment of citizens is important, so is domination, which is why Roosevelt’s ideas of strong patriotism during the Progressive Era are not completely lost today.
"America's present need is not heroics but healing, not nostrums but normalcy, not revolution but restoration .not submergence in internationality but sustainment in triumphant nationality."
In Ronald Reagan’s speech he creates this idea of a broken and selfish country. America is founded upon a democratic government that has proved to be useful in that past but, in Reagan’s speech he says, “In this present
America has always been looked at as “The New World” where people from all over come to fulfil their dreams. Their dreams may not have been exceptional, but only to have enough to survive, have a house where their children could be raised and feel free and protected. Now, according to Webster’s online dictionary Americanism is defined as a custom, trait, belief, etc., peculiar to the United States of America or its citizens, but to me it means so much more.
Cave, Damien. "What Does It Mean to Be American?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 2014. Web. 04 Sept. 2016.
What does it mean to be an American? To me, what it means to be American is to Pledge Allegiance to your country, to proudly boast that you live in a country that has a justification for existence, to be given opportunity. Although there are many definitions of what it means to be an American, does being an American really just mean being successful in society? The point of this essay is to describe the different meanings and my feelings of what it is to be “American”.
The United States of America were not always the United States of America. Long before the United States became an independent nation, we were under the rule of the British monarchy. Before that, we were an unknown land that was inhabited primarily by I...
Bob Herbert, columnist and professor of journalism, wrote about the current condition of America in “A Fire in the Basement,” an introduction to a collection of his editorials, Promises Betrayed: Waking up from the American Dream (2005). The “fire” he is referring to, is the idea that America is falling apart from the inside out, and we aren’t even aware of it. He suggests that our current state as a world power is in decline, and it’s not the terrorists we should be worried about. Rather, he gives examples showing that this decline will be the result of the growing inequality, irrationality, and the loss of hope within our nation. He states, “It’s not that life in America was better in the 1960’s. It wasn’t. But it seemed to be moving in a better direction” (396). In other words, we’ve lost a crucial part to what made us a great nation in the first place. If we don’t recover this hope and can-do spirit soon, we may be headed for a supporting role on the world stage.
Richard Neville begins his argument for America bashing by citing George W. Bush’s decision to renounce the Kyoto treaty as an example of the poor decision making the American government has made that hurts not only itself, but the entire world. In his article Neville seeks to denounce several myths that America still possesses. He starts by arguing against the myth that America is the land of the free. He states that America in actuality has the highest percentage of its citizens imprisoned over any other country. In fact, a quarter of the world’s prisoners are incarcerated in the United States. He goes on to diminish the idea that happiness is honored. He argues that if this is true, how can the country exhibit one of the highest rates of clinical depression. He cites Eli Lilly as saying “Prozac changed everything, and that’s just the beginning? America promotes global expansion and human rights is his next target. Neville points out that the United States spurned vital treaties on war crimes, as well as land mines, the prohibition of juvenile executions, arms controls, test bans and the Rights of Children. Neville then goes on to discuss the myth that America is the land of the free. If this is true, Neville argues, then it is unjust that the richest one percent of the population have more wealth then the lowest ninety percent, the largest inequality in the world. He points out that over forty million Americans are without health insurance, a number which increases every year. While these facts do not shed a kind light on America, Neville does point out some of its brighter aspects.
In the beginning of September 2005, disappointment and excitement revealed on my face when I boarded the plane to move to the United States of America. The feeling of leaving my families, friends, school, clothes, and culture in Cameroon presented a hardship for me on this journey. Of course, I anticipated this new life because it indicated a fresh start. I envisioned it resembling life in movies, where everything appeared to be simple and life was simply excellent. All things considered, I was heading off to the United States, known for the American dream. To me it meant that everyone is given equal opportunity to prosper, achieve a family, and attain a successful job as long as they are hardworking and determined. I felt exceptionally honored and blessed to have this open door since I realized that it was not provided to everybody. Coming to America denoted my transitioning on the grounds that I deserted my previous lifestyle in Cameroon, began a new chapter in my life once again, and finally became a much grateful individual.
Among every other country in the world, the United States of America is where people feel the most comfortable place to come and live a better life. Immigrants are people who leave their counties to reside in other counties that are rich and safe to better themselves. Every year people immigrate to the USA for many reasons. Many people are having difficulty living in their native country such as over population, jobless which make the economy so hard. People from outside of the United States think there is peace, love, equality, free education, jobs, good food to stay healthy, but most importantly freedom of speech to express yourself in America. Today, I will only focus on some reasons why people in my country immigrates to America. This is
The accomplishments that are found today within the United States did not come without struggles. For example, the line of a song by Francis Scott Key, “The rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air” demonstrates how this country has fought to keep its main value: liberty. Not only have
America is the greatest nation in the world. That is a sentence that has been stated many times by many different people, for many different reasons. Whether those reasons are militarily related, based on global political influence, or even economically. However one reason that this statement is repeated over and over again is the fact that America is the “land of opportunity”, a place where anyone can come, work hard and make something of themselves. No matter your age, race, religion, gender or creed, in America you have the opportunity to make something better for yourself and your family. However this ability, this “American Dream” is under attack. Not only is it under attack, it is under attack from within, from our own citizens. The motto of America seems to be changing, from “the land of opportunity”, a place you can work your way to prosperity, to the land of giving, a place where you can lounge yourself through life on someone else’s dime.