It
makes me sad that I live in a country where we’re afraid to speak with passion
or that two men can’t have a close friendship without being labeled “gay.” It
bothers me that we don’t touch each other when we converse. It’s considered
weird if we greet each other with a kiss or if we throw our arm around each
other. That it’s considered normal, even expected, to add the phrase “no homo”
if you behave in an endearing way to a member of the same sex. That a large
percentage of us are ignorant to the rest of the world. We’re self-centered,
self-absorbed, and incredibly vapid. How many people can find Cambodia on a
map? Or even know what continent Morocco is on?
So many of us are wrapped up in our iPhones and the latest app. Walking out of class after watching a documentary on another part of the world or a discussion about another culture and hearing people making fun of it or saying “That was so stupid,” makes my blood boil. How can you be so mentally lazy? It boggles my mind that a person can sit through a class that is meant to make you think and broaden your mind only to dismiss it as “bullshit.” Who do you think you are? You haven’t been on this planet for more than a couple decades and you think you know what’s bullshit and what isn’t? It doesn’t bother you that you’re stuck in this bubble of narcissism?
We look down on the poor as if they’re disgusting and subhuman and then practically worship anyone with a six digit income. Americans walk around legitimately believing that we’re number one and everyone else is scum. We’ve been conditioned to be afraid of anyoneoutside of the US with less than us. It drives me
crazy to be aware of all of this and then realize…the majority of people don’t
care that we’re like this.
People may read this and laugh thinking that I’m being dramatic. My father may smirk and think to himself “My daughter, the little activist.” My mother may comment or want to talk to me later about how we have to look after ourselves first. There are a number of people I know who might read this, shake his/her head at me and say “Sierra, that’s just how it is. You can try your best but at the end of the day, nothing will change.” Well none of that is good enough for me. I’m not satisfied with “That’s just how it is and it’s nearly impossible to change it.”
See, I believe in something that the founders of every independent country believed in, something every inventor, activist, and doctor works by. I believe in something anyone with an ounce of motivation to do anything believes in. I believe in this thing called “trying.”
So many of us are wrapped up in our iPhones and the latest app. Walking out of class after watching a documentary on another part of the world or a discussion about another culture and hearing people making fun of it or saying “That was so stupid,” makes my blood boil. How can you be so mentally lazy? It boggles my mind that a person can sit through a class that is meant to make you think and broaden your mind only to dismiss it as “bullshit.” Who do you think you are? You haven’t been on this planet for more than a couple decades and you think you know what’s bullshit and what isn’t? It doesn’t bother you that you’re stuck in this bubble of narcissism?
We look down on the poor as if they’re disgusting and subhuman and then practically worship anyone with a six digit income. Americans walk around legitimately believing that we’re number one and everyone else is scum. We’ve been conditioned to be afraid of anyone
People may read this and laugh thinking that I’m being dramatic. My father may smirk and think to himself “My daughter, the little activist.” My mother may comment or want to talk to me later about how we have to look after ourselves first. There are a number of people I know who might read this, shake his/her head at me and say “Sierra, that’s just how it is. You can try your best but at the end of the day, nothing will change.” Well none of that is good enough for me. I’m not satisfied with “That’s just how it is and it’s nearly impossible to change it.”
See, I believe in something that the founders of every independent country believed in, something every inventor, activist, and doctor works by. I believe in something anyone with an ounce of motivation to do anything believes in. I believe in this thing called “trying.”
In many cases, you had some decent points. But I don't think Americans are incapable of having close relationship without being labeled gay. I have many close friendships, some people even say we're a little too comfortable, but it's not condescending. It merely describes how close as friends we are.
ReplyDeleteNext, I don't think American's are afraid of other cultures. We allow anyone from anywhere to come to this country to make a life for themselves, and they have done so for over a century. Starting with the forced transport of African slaves, to Irish, Italian, Greek, Jewish, settlers in this country, now to the Middle Eastern, Asian, and Indian cultures that currently reside in the U.S.
We have a president who is more willing to praise a random basketball player coming out of the closet than he is showing respect to the 'Greatest Generation' and locking millions of WWII veterans out of a memorial they fought,bled, and died for. Instead, he and the Nancy Pelosi's of the world spoke and praised the illegal Mexicans for entering the National Mall. This, rather than finding a map of Cambodia or disliking a documentary shown in a class of our already broken education system, is what first needs to be addressed. I agree that a serious reformation needs to be addressed in the value system of our country. But it needs to be in the right direction, and not to make today's generation of youth possess a lack of constitution.