It feels good to be number one. I know it does. To know that we’re better than everyone else. We know that America is number one, because we’ve been told it all our lives. America has been number one since the moment the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. This is the mythologizing of our creation. To be great, we have to come from greatness. Our greatness is and always has been a given. My question, however, is Who cares?
Ultranationalist ideology makes us think we’re the greatest, we don’t need to even give other countries a thought. We always do, though. We are always comparing ourselves to China, to Russia or to India. We are so concerned about other countries, that we miss the fact that we’re supposed to be concerned about our own citizens. We tell ourselves we’re the best and convince ourselves we don’t need to change. We are so great, yet so many peo[;e live in abject poverty. So many people have no access to the things they need to live comfortably. So many people live in poor conditions while the wealthiest and corporations feed off the labor of the nation’s citizens.
We’re okay with this, though, because we’re number one. It’s the myth that we’ve been told from day one that is used as justification for the government to act the way it does. As long as the economy is good, as long as the Gross Domestic Product is number one, as long as the richest are taking in the billions, who cares what else happens? Who cares how many Americans have little to no access to quality education? Just pay for private education. Who cares if there’s lead in your water? Just drink imported bottled water. Who cares if your job is shipped overseas? That’ll make Tesla’s profits soar because they can use Chinese children as slaves. We’re number one. We don’t care about that. As long as the greatness of the USA is realized, all that can go straight to hell.
Here’s what I think needs to happen. We need to care. We need to realize that an extra billion added to the pile for these elites means nothing to them. It means nothing if Walmart profits grow by 500% in this fiscal year if the very people who work there live in abject poverty and are barely able to maintain a standard of living for themselves, much less their family. We need to stop caring about our standing in the world and start caring about what really matters: our citizens.
