If someone walked up to you and asked the question "What is the best country in the world?" what answer would you give? Would you blurt out the grand ol’ US of A, give a more obscure answer like Scotland, or would you simply have no idea? Better yet, is there even a right answer?
We live in a nation that prides itself on self-sufficiency, diversity, and being the land of equal-opportunity for all its inhabitants. With our "support the troops" bumper stickers, our "back-to-back WWII champs" tank tops, and our American flag Chubbie shorts, we invite the term "super patriot." So to an outsider we must come across as pretty confident, because we talk a pretty big game.
But at the end of the day, do we deliver on our promises? Many would say that we haven’t, and for good reason. Take for example the issue of sexual abuse. In a recent article from Ibtimes.com about the countries with the highest child abuse rates, the USA finds its name situated among the bad guys. Its partners in crime include India, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The article cites a disturbing statistic that of the babies born in a single year, 500,000 of them will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. Is this something that could occur in the world’s greatest country?
Now, as much as I would like to say it stops here, I can’t. When you examine incarceration rates of the world’s nations we are the worst of the worst. Not only do we have the largest prison population, weighing in at around 2.2 million people, but we also have the highest number per 100,000 people incarcerated. It’s around 740 people according to BBC.co.uk. We even rank higher in this category than Russia and China, both of which are countries with governments that many Americans view as "oppressive." What does this say about us?
To my knowledge, it has never been easier to communicate with someone half-way across the world or to find out what the latest news is in another part of the country. And although we live in this age of globalization and mass media, we aren’t always connected to the world around us. We're often so focused on our own problems that we forget (or simply don’t care) about what’s occurring just down the road, let alone across the globe. It would seem that this heightened level of interconnectivity has done more to tie foreign peoples to American culture than it has to link us with theirs. And if all you ever know about another country is what you see in those UNICEF commercials with Alyssa Milano, then you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Now don’t get me wrong; the U.S. is great and there’s no place I’d rather be. I love southern hospitality, New York deep dish pizza, Chicago dogs and the rugged landscape of the West. It’s so spectacular that in 1893, Katherine Lee Bates wrote the song “America the Beautiful.” But is this beauty more than superficial? She mentions “liberty” and the nation's heroes of the time as well as the various landscapes that stretch across the country. But she doesn’t mention much else. At a time when women still did not have the right to vote, where was her liberty? If we really are the best, then where is the proof?
Sometimes even the people we regard as great can have their flaws. Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley are a few names that come to mind. But that’s okay. The problem is when you fail to acknowledge them. Those who can admit to their problems and then fix what needs fixing are the ones who succeed. Charlie Sheen would call that winning. If we truly want to be #1 then we as a nation need to come down off our high-horse and address the difficult issues that affect our society.
