We all grew up declaring the Pledge of Allegiance and holding our right hand over our heart as we said it. We were raised with deep nationalism and patriotic fervor, and we proclaimed the name of America as being the land of freedom and the greatest country in the world. Once we do graduate from school and start truly looking at the current state of our country, we learn that there are certain things about our home that aren’t how we first thought them to be. In our current social and economic state, to say we are struggling or in a downturn is a dangerous euphemism, and we don’t have any true signs of pending change. As much as it hurts to say it, maybe America isn’t the greatest country in the world anymore. Maybe we’re not the pinnacle of the free world like we previously thought, and yet not all hope in the livelihood of our country is lost. Changes can be made, and we can make a change for the better.
One of my favorite TV shows of all time, HBO’s The Newsroom, brought this idea up in not just its pilot episode, but the very first scene of the show itself. While the program only lasted 3 years due to creator/writer Aaron Sorkin quitting the show, The Newsroom held a microscope, or rather a camera, to the world of television news and the stories that have filled our headlines since 2010. In the aforementioned scene, Will McAvoy, the anchor of a big-time nightly news program, goes on a verbal tirade at a college discussion panel after a student asks why America is the best country in the world. The other people on the panel state things like our diversity and opportunity for success or the broad freedom that we have here in America, but not Will. To Will, the United States is not as “star-spangled awesome” as we have been brought up to think, and he tells his audience why he sees this. Check out the scene in the video by clicking here (coarse language, while quite infrequent, is present).
Will brings up some great points in this stream-of-consciousness speech, and I agree with him in every step.
The United States is no longer the sole land of freedom. In fact, it would most likely be harder to find a country that lacks freedom than to find one that holds it. The times of America being the only land where freedom rings are long gone. Also, the status of us being at the forefront of areas like education and health have passed, and it seems like the only thing that we still lead in is defense spending. We are not the great advocates of change that we used to be. In the past we reared out heads at moral injustice, we took up arms against tyranny and true poverty, and we were the ones who sparked change for the better and we passed laws that truly did such a thing. Americans used to inflict change and then not worship ourselves for what we’d done, and we have now put advancement and “progress” over the pursuit of righteousness.
America used to follow leaders that sought knowledge and the betterment of mankind, and yet now we devote ourselves to those who seem to have the lone goal of having their name circled in a ballot in November. What ever happened to leaders being on the front lines of the battlefield and answering the enemy directly with a steady hand and the willingness to do whatever it takes to ensure our security? Today’s presidential candidates have agendas that will benefit their own ambitions and goals instead of what is beneficial for the country. They spout over-rehearsed slogans and catchphrases that their press agents and focus groups approved of, and we pick them because of the funny soundbite we heard on CNN or FOX News or because of the things that they say they’ll give us, regardless of whether or not we deserve it. What happened to voting for who is best for the country as a whole rather than what is seen as what benefits me, myself, and I? To answer the question, I really don’t know.
With all of this said, I will still sing the national anthem at sporting events with my hat off and heart covered, and I stand by the fact that that flag with those stripes and stars on it still holds a great symbolic meaning. America is still in a position where it can make an altering move and return itself to the magnitude at which it formerly was. It will take both time and leaders who don’t waste it in their legislative process. The United States is not the greatest country in the world anymore, but it surely can be if it makes a change.
When can this change be made? It is easy, however true it is, to say that it can start this November in your nearby election booth, but it can start in other places also. It can start in your neighborhood, it can start in your church, or even as simple as yourself. In one of my favorite movies, Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, the character Frank Costello says “I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” Not only is this a great quote, but it’s also a great way to see the world around you. You are the one that should try to change the world around you for the better, and you shouldn’t place all of your bets on some presidential candidate to do it for you instead. We should treat everyone we cross paths with respect, but also honor our own morals and stop compromising our own beliefs for how America’s increasingly progressive society might expect us to think.
