State of the Union

The 20s are all about celebrating the things around you. What a privilege it is to live in America, arguably one of the most free nations in the world. The US however is not always what's it's cracked up to be. We've still got a long way to go and history might need to be mythbusted for the whole truth to come out, but we still have a lot to be proud of. Let's just put it this way, things could be a whole lot worse. This is your real state of the union address. 

Contrary to popular belief, the United States of America is not the only country in the world. The citizens however would tell you otherwise and act like it. There's billions of other people who inhabit this planet but the way we carry ourselves (excuse the broad generalizations) would have you believing we're the only people on Earth. Other countries that are deemed "inhabitable" and worthy to be "dealt" with are few and far between aka the old European powers like Great Britain, France, Spain and Germany (BTW, how is possible that such small places were capable of enslaving and spreading their deadly imperialistic ideals all over much of the world ... please someone explain that to me). Everywhere else we're ignorant about and only view as philanthropic humanitarian causes or exotic places to vacation. Sorry to burst your bubble but Africa is a continent, not a country, please specify a nation, city, town, village or even some damn geo-coordinates when you make reference to it. The rest of the world is not some wasteland of poverty strike, disease ridden barbaric societies as the media leads people to believe (yes, much of the world lives in improve dished conditions, but there are many places that are comparable if not more lavish that these United States). The only time you see a country on the news it's either because some celebrity started a charity there, or some  great disaster has occurred there for the rest of us to feel sorry for. It's called a read a damn book people. One of my many pet peeves with the American schooling system is how closed minded it is, people here can go their whole lives and not learn about another country properly. Hell, if the citizens now of the US were subjected to the ridiculous tests that immigrants were the majority would fail and be barred from naturalizing. That's highly embarrassing and a true shame that most people do not know the basic history of the country they live and do their best to prevent other people from entering. It's pure luck that you were born here, do you know how much different your life could be if your family had to move here? Open your eyes, listen to what's going on and form your own educated opinion if the world, there's an entire planet to explore outside our beloved borders. 

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm happy to be an American. What I'm not happy about is being treated as nothing of the sort. The real story of this modern America is one of second class citizenry and supremacy. The hostility and mistreatment of immigrants, anyone with an accent that is non-European (excluding Australia), or who's physical appearance makes them look anything other than alabaster white or the newly coveted California sun kissed orange, is truly outrageous. America was designed with a certain kind of person in mind and it's taken great strides to even get it this point, but we've got a long way to go - starting with that amnesty program and the immigration reform. Independence Day is the epitome of celebrating an ideal, one that has been drastically changed (sorry forefathers, your definition of freedom excluded women, the poor, people of color, the disabled, LGBTQ identified, and so many more) and one we've yet to reach. We can strive for it but until unwarranted hostility, the segregation mentality, and downright ignorance of what really goes on in this country has been eradicated, nothing will change. Everyone deserves a fair chance to enter this country, legally. Just because you never had to doesn't make you any better. No one can truly understand the hardship, struggle and ambition it takes to get here, all for people's kids to have a better life. The legal hoops that people are made to jump through, honestly their ridiculous. The truth about freedom in America is that some people are more free than others. Freedom for some means oppression for others, it's a trade off on the grandest scale of all. True freedom comes from peace, not from war, and means liberation, equity (not equality) and being valued for all. We're not there yet, and we've got long way to go. That's your real state of the union. 

Americanisms - things only Americans could come up with
1) Reality TV - no one will ever understand this phenomenon better than Americans; cameras following people around watching them do nothing but live their daily lives. Keeping up with the Kardashians, the Hills (scripted or not), the Real World, Jersey Shore, and even What Would Ryan Lochte Do - we just love watching drama unfold for no reason whatsoever.

2) Music - coming up with the soundtrack to your life is definitely an American thing, while we're currently in the British invasion (thank you the Wanted & One Direction among others), music in general has given rise to legends, American legends. Our music is played all around the world, and what's popular on our charts has the power to set records around the world. Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Chris Brown, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga and all the rest, totally American.

3) Movies - probably one of our biggest contributions to the world, we dominate the silver screens worldwide. While it may not always be our actors/actresses starring (Henry Cavill, Emma Watson, Daniel Craig etc.) the production is totally America. Our stars are international with their recognition, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Halle Berry, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lawrence - the list is virutally endless.

4) Higher Education - one our most important contributions, institutions for higher learning. There's no other country that has more colleges and universities than the United States. With over 4,000, America is the place to be when it comes to continuing your education post high school and beyond. Everyone knows the Ivies and the numerous other big namers, along with institutions for post-undergraduate degrees as well. Co-eds line them up.

5) Social Media - last but surely not least, social media is totally an American thing. Who invented Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram and every other little app we're all obsessed with and share our entire lives through ... Americans. Our inventors are genius and know how to take their things global, it's a rarity that a foreign invention takes over like ours do. You can tweet that.

The 20s are all about seeing the bigger picture. We are no more naive and can rely on others to form our opinions. It's up to us to care, research and fact-check the issues. The news/media is so very limited, the government isn't as truthful as we hope and everyone has varying levels of information. The more you know, the better. The state of our union is progress, change and an over-symbolized beacon of freedom with some fundamental underlying problems, a knack for cover ups and a plaguing public ignorance and acceptance of mis/limited information. Still a place to be celebrates, hazardous fireworks, day-drinking, over-zealous barbecues, capitalist Independence Day sales and all!

My blog post question for the day is ... what's your favorite thing about America? I truly love the freedom to purchase (the more money you have, the freer you are), and get pretty much anything you can dream up ... for a price.