Is America Truly The Best?

       For all of those sick of politics, or simply sick of me critisizing what you believe in, this is my second to last post on politics before I move on to another subject entirely. Now, I know that I have been putting down America and a lot of its practices and such, but I am not a hater. In fact, I am very grateful to have been born in this country, because it is a great country, and it has great opportunity possible for the generations. The question in the title might make my last few sentences seem hipocrytical, but although America is a good country, I don't believe that it is the best.

       You and almost every other American child have heard your parents and other adults tell you about how great and marvelous America is, and how this and that are better that any other country's this and that. That we have such a great country that we rule the world, that we are the best. That they are proud to be an American. This is not new to you, I bet, and you probably would never guess that in any random country, be it France, Mongolia, Sudan, Congo, Paraguay, Canada, or any other country, that they do the exact same thing. Popular music tells the story of generations of pride in ones own country. Every country thinks that they are the best, and that they are better than the rest in every single way.

       Why does everyone say such a thing? Why does everyone deny the existence of a country better than their own? Well, I guess the main reason is that, in your country, there are differences than in others. Different ways of talking, eating, and even using the restroom. You only want to mingle with things that you feel comfortable with, and those are the things you grew up with. You feel comfortable and ready for life in that country. Other country's traditions weird you out, make you feel uncomfortable, so that is why you think that your country is the best.

       Now, in this endless mess of human drama and opinion, what is the best country? How do you determine which country is better than all the rest? The simple answer: you can't. There is no way to compare such opiniotated topics and come to a completely right conclusion. So, in a way, there is no best country. Every country is just another country, not a better or a worse one. A country can be good, but not better than another.

      So now you have heard my scoop about comparing countries, its time to give the good news. We can do something about it. I don't know how much better I can describe it than in a RUSH song called Territories, as it affirms and explains my points probably better than I do, and the lyrics to it are found at this site. Read them and comment on them.  http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/r/rush/territories.html

     If you read the lyrics, you probably saw the last paragraph that reads:

                         Better the Pride that resides
                         In a citizen of the world
                        Than the pride that divides
                        When a colorful rag is unfurled

     That is what you can do. Love the world, and have pride in it. Even better, love all of the humans on the planet, and feel prideful to be human. If there are aliens, feel prideful to be alive. On and on and on. You see, we need to realize that we can't divide ourselves into territories, and look through the spyglass in reverse. We need to realize that we are not alone and that we need to look ahead WITH other countries, and not racing to get into the lead.