America
America; the land of opportunity, the manifest destiny and the American Dream. A spirit of every man for himself, throw away society and materialism. Do not misunderstand me, I am sure the people of America are just as amenable as the next country but since the time of the earliest pioneers America has been rife with self-interest and greed either through big business or politics. Modern day America is stricken with afflictions such as, Oklahoma Bombings, Presidential assassinations and the cruel murder of one of the greatest men in history, Martin Luther King. It seems to me that the commercial view of America is one of freedom and rights, if so then how is it that such atrocious acts can take place?
Perhaps the most obvious era of American self-indulgence is that of the Counter-Culture of the sixties. This radical, youthful movement did not spring from where you might expect; not the poor and needy searching for a better life but from over privileged white youths who had recently graduated from college. They claimed to be only interested in liberation and greening, looking after the ecological well being of the earth. Evidence gives support countering this opinion. The counter culture seems to have been fuelled by hard drugs and violence, ill treatment of women and anti-ethnic views. How then that most people remember or have heard of the sixties as a time of free love and peace? The answer, manipulation of the facts from such high sources as the American government and most notably the media’s portrayal of ‘Hippie’ life.
The
modern day American President, George Walker Bush, for me, epitomises the
downfalls of American society. The whole each man for themselves scenario is
played out on an international scale as far as Bush is concerned, America being
the spoilt self-indulged child, throwing his toys out of the pram if he doesn’t
get the lollypop. There are numerous examples:
· Steel tariffs, seriously damaging
the global economy, merely to boost American trading,
· Exporting of cheap but plentiful
American food to countries like Russia, thus nullifying Russian agriculture and
food production because they cannot compete with American prices and
consequently becoming dependent on American imports of food, again boosting the
American economy.
· Bush’s defiant, even arrogant,
refusal to sign the Kyoto Treaty. The Treaty was apparently ‘not
in the best interests of America’ but if global warming does not cease
and sea levels continue to rise parts of New York state and California will
cease to be prime real estate and will only be of interest to deep-sea divers.
This is an example of America’s short-term gain and economic prosperity
possibly having catastrophic global consequences. I for one do not want to
chance my breaststroke against the cold icy waters of the North Sea.
Admittedly
America does offer aid and help to those who need it. In some ways they do try
and improve world problems but for me it is not nearly enough. There is an
argument that if America sticks their noses into other country’s problems then
they will damage international relations but I believe that if they address the
issues with a mature and democratic mind then they are well capable of solving
global issues like Israel
.
And the real problem is that America is the
most powerful country in the world. They have the power to do so much good,
especially for those less privileged that your average MacDonald’s loving,
Wrestling junkie. If only America could concentrate all the energy that goes
into trying to better and compete with the rest of the world into solving their
infrastructure and channelling their undoubted power to helping solve the
international conflicts by a process of democracy not hypocrisy. Bombing
Baghdad and murdering Saddam Hussein is not a sensible or viable option of
controlling nuclear, biological or chemical warfare, when America alone holds
the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. When the Cold War was
raging did the American Government allow foreign weapons inspectors in to count
their warheads? I don’t think so. In fact the Russians and the Americans both
allegedly kept small amounts of the Smallpox virus after the Cold War, just in
case. If only they hadn’t done this the threat of a Smallpox epidemic would
have been eradicated. However, worryingly through national pride and insecurity
some samples were kept and have reportedly been leaked or passed on to
terrorist factions by one form of corruption or another.
In
the UK we are fast becoming the USA’s closest ally. A worrying fact seeing as
almost all of the world’s countries have sections of society that are
anti-American. I would personally be happier to stay European than to join the
legions of the American defensive.
Rob Clarke, Bishop Heber High School.