I have traveled the world quite a bit and have seen Americans passing through foreign customs actually apologizing for being Americans when displaying their passports. This simply breaks my heart. Americans are the most open, friendly, generous, fun loving, optimistic and courageous people on the planet. Unfortunately most of the world sees us much differently.
Who could blame people from other cultures for seeing Americans as evil when they are fed a daily dose of propaganda? And of course we Americans are to blame somewhat for this as well since what goes out to the world abroad is a steady stream of violence, immorality, materialism and green house gases.
If somebody visited from another planet what they would see at first glance is a society that consumes more that the rest of the world, pollutes more than any other country and has held in high regard, a repeated child molester (Michael Jackson), set free two celebrity murderers (O.J. Simpson/Robert Blake), whos most popular TV show humiliates and berates its participants (American Idol) and has supported several violent dictators and rouge leaders worldwide. But, this isnt who most of us are. And we Americans should understand that this is not what we represent but who unfortunately represents us.
American is truly the land of opportunity. My sister was telling me about a trip to New Zealand she was on recently. There were travelers from every culture and country there. One of the Kiwis who were running the trip commented on Americans. He said You Americans you think anything is possible. That is what inspired me to write this. Americans do see the possibility in all things. We turn lemons to lemonade and drink it in a glass that is always half full. And this is why America is the best place on the face of the planet.
America is such an amazing place that we have to protect our borders because the rest of the world wants to partake in the freedoms we Americans enjoy on a daily basis. This is not a new thing. This past summer while I was on business in New York I had a few hours to kill and I went on a ferry ride to Ellis Island. Like 92% of all Americans my family can trace their history to this small man made island outside of the towering skyline of beautiful Manhattan. I read some of the journal entries of these immigrants and I was truly moved by the hope and enthusiasm they had for moving to The New World. This has not changed. When I am abroad there is always a litany of people I meet who would love to move to America and assimilate into our society.
In the past decade Americans have seen a deadly attack on their soil, American soldiers lost in Afghanistan and Iraq, repeated political and corporate scandals and media created hysteria. This has polarized us as a people, dividing us into right and left, conservative and liberal, democrat and republican. But, this can stop. We can make a change and chart a new course because we are Americans darn it and for us anything is possible. And the world knows this.
I for one see change on the horizon. I see lemons being made into lemonade, glasses being half full and I see our darkest hours just before dawn. We are after all one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Spread the word.
Author: Thomas King
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rate
