America the Great

As a teenager, I grew up thinking America was wonderful. Every Friday night, religiously, I would sit in front of the TV and watch in awe as MacGyver would invent things from bubble gum wrappers, a paper clip, and some ear wax. And I would think, "Wow, America is great!"

Then I grew up. And eventually moved here. And I saw poverty. And crime. And gang violence. And sadly it dawned on me. America is not great. America is just like any other country in the world. Well, almost.

In high school, I would learn about European history and the two World Wars. I would learn about British history and the feudal system. I would learn about colonialism. In Geography I would learn about tectonic plates under the earth's crust. And I would learn about Cumulonimbus clouds and Cirrostratus clouds. In biology, I would learn about cell formation and structure. I was taught about the world in which I live.

But in America, while they are taught similar things, there's a slight change. They too learn about cloud formations. But as they occur in America. They too learn about history. American history. It's a very ethnicentric society this.

The newspapers contain pages and pages of events around the country. And maybe just one small insignificant page abotu world events.

It's no surprise then that the rest of the world vies Americans as stupid. But they're not. They're lazy. And they believe what crap the media tells them.

"The Middle East is the axis of evil and all Arabs are terrorists." Okay, check. Believe.

"The French didn't support us in our 'War Against Terror', therefore they are rude and dirty and we should boycott everything French." Okay, check. Believe. Done.

"Africa is poor and sandy and the people are starving and all have AIDS." Okay, check. Believe.

Sadly, this is the truth as I see it. Firsthand. At first I thought it was funny when Americans would ask me why I'm white when I told them I was South African. Now, I just think it's sad. I was once even asked if South Africa is just below North Carolina. Because it's a common belief that the entire world can be found between Los Angeles and New York City.

Yes, the Greatest. Maybe one day long, long ago.