Thoughts on America: Throughout its short history, the United States has always been considered a great place to live, and a symbol for freedom and hope. In recent years, however, it has become apparent that the United States is not all its cracked up to be. A lot of Americans believe that their country is the highest ranking in the world for freedom, civil rights, equality with diversity, and economic stability, four cornerstones of a democracy. However, these ideals are far more present elsewhere in the world than in the USA. In fact, in this years poll of the worlds top ten happiest countries, the United States was conspicuously absent. Examples of why the United States is not the greatest place on Earth to live are illustrated through surveys of its people, the discontent of its workers, the increase in wealth disparity, and the lack of implementation of the cornerstones of democracy stated above. Using the poll of Happiest Nations of the world as a criterion to express how much people enjoy their country, it is clear that there are many countries in the world that are far more in tune with the needs of the people than America. For several years running, the Scandinavian nations were at the top of the list, with Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway leading the world in their peoples contentment. Factors that were considered for this illustrious list were GDP (Gross Domestic Product), life expectancy, social support, corruption levels, and civil freedoms. Sadly, the United States has never been in the top ten. Of these happiest nations, several factors have led to their bliss. For instance, Denmark has universal healthcare, free university tuition, free child care, low unemployment, low pollution, high life expectancy, and general good health. By contrast, America has the lackluster Affordable Health Care Act, which does not cover everyone, college tuitions that put students in debt for half their lifetime, very limited child care options, high unemployment, widespread pollution, and general poor health, with 78.6 million Americans qualified as obese. The cornerstones of democracy mentioned above begin with freedom, civil liberties, and equality for all its diverse peoples. America was founded on the principles that these were immutable human rights given to all. However, at the inception of this country, those rights were only given to white men who owned property, not women or minorities, or the poverty-stricken. It took another century and a half for the rights of every man and woman to begin to be equal, and still today the struggle continues for true equality. Discrimination in the workplace is a constant obstacle to both women and men of all races. Although prohibited by law, discrimination still occurs against women, with 30% of women polled expressing an incident of workplace discrimination, and against African Americans, with an alarming rate of mental health problems associated with the mistrust of whites, and untold numbers of men and women discriminated against who have criminal records even for the most minor of offenses. Small businesses are most commonly the culprit of the latter form of discrimination, and many claim they were not even aware that it was illegal. To further illustrate the point that America is not the greatest nation in the world, the last cornerstone of democracy, economic stability, is also far from being fulfilled. This country has the highest wealth disparity of any developed nation in the world. It is a verifiable fact, and not a passing fad or a kitschy slogan of the Occupy movement, that the top 1% of earners control the majority of capital gains in America. There is little true economic opportunity if 99% of Americans are unable to have access to the benefits of Capitalism as they are implemented in the major corporations. In fact, the major corporations are now in control of the government as well, with the recent passing of the Citizens United Act, where the Conservative, Republican-appointed Justices in a five to four decision ruled that corporations are people and money is speech. They now have all the benefits of personhood, with none of the liability. Furthermore, private prison systems are in place to make more money for the already wealthy corporate entities off of individuals who break the law, which has caused a huge increase in the numbers of arrests in this country, along with corruption at all levels of government. Police brutality is constantly in the news, with non-violent offenders and peaceful protesters being their favorite targets. One out of every 100 Americans at some point in their lives have been incarcerated, most of whom were convicted or accused of non-violent offenses. With more than 2 million Americans currently in the prison system, and less than half of them for a violent crime, this illustrates a nation rife with injustice. In conclusion, the idea that America is a great place to live is long lost to history. The country was founded on genocide, corruption, and greed, and those values have made a resurgence in recent decades. For a brief time after the last World War, America was a prosperous beacon of hope and humanity, but those days have come and gone, into the pockets of people like Charles and David Koch, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet. Liberty and freedom are only granted to those with the money to purchase them, and the inequality of the population makes for some very malcontent individuals. Given the means and the motivation, it is doubtful many Americans would not choose to live in one of the happier nations of the world.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 22:49:41 +0000
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