Only here Garnet. Only at your house. You should be proud.

Liz

Last year was a tough year for my family. We struggled financially, went without several comforts, no gas to heat our home, no stove to cook on, no running hot water… yet we knew in our hearts it was our responsibility to turn our situation around. It wasn’t the country’s fault, it wasn’t the government’s fault, and even though the sudden stop in cash flow came as a result of an injury on the job suffered by my husband, we didn’t blame his company, his Union, the inability to qualify for disability…

No. We looked at this country as the land of opportunity. We borrowed from family and friends to turn opportunity into financial stability and we paid back every cent within 14 short months. It wasn’t easy, but it was our responsibility - and we met it head on.

I say this not to impress, but to impress upon any who care to read this that America really is the land of the free, rich and flowing with opportunities, filled to the brim with caring souls …also ready to fight the good fight for the less able abroad.

In it’s own way, on a much longer time-line, this great nation has earned its richness through trials, tribulations, making mistakes along the way and learning from those mistakes to evolve higher.

Yes, it is just a child when compared with the overall age of nations… and yet, in many ways it is far more enlightened than some nations centuries older… nations who choose not to learn from their mistakes, choose not to grow, choose to ignore their responsibilities to themselves and their people.

As a country, America doesn’t have to be the first to respond… the first to send troops, send aid, send food, send help of any kind. They don’t have to be last to respond. They could choose not to respond at all. They could sit back and enjoy their riches and look solely and exclusively after their own, pretend they are an island unto themselves …and then where would the world be?

When is the world going to highlight this nation’s generousity, instead of pointing a finger asking — is this all your giving?

As a nation, is America supposed to be embarrassed by its own fortunate circumstances? Would the world think better of this country if it were more humble about its own wealth? Would it make the country as a whole less of a target in the eye of terrorists? Somehow, I doubt it.

It reminds me of the parable and the 3 bags of gold.

One buries his gold and waits for his master’s return. Another invests it in a bank and earns a small return. And the third…

I don’t think the USA is meant to bury its gold, nor sit on it like some countries have. I think it should stand up proud in its accomplishments, hard-won has they have been, and inspire others to greatness in the process.

Just my humble opinion. I hope it doesn’t offend.

Please be kind to yourself.

I agree we as a country are in an identity crisis.

If we see ourselves as a person, we would be like a teenager compared to the rest of the world, since we are about half the age of many European nations.

Following that metaphor, we are a big, strong, rebellious teenager trying to assert himself in the world. We have ideal intentions, but not much forsight. We see things simply, but not deeply. That is costing us, and will cost us for awhile. Right now, our older neighbors are looking on in dismay, trying to figure out how to help us without annoying us. And it’s dawning on us we may not know everything we thought about how the world works. But we’re proud, and don’t want to admit our embarassment. So we pout, and pretend nothing happened, hoping the problem will go away.

Yes, our self-esteem is damaged, because we are learning hard lessons about growing up as a nation. It’s normal to have self doubt. It’s dangerous, however, when a strong teenager denies the truth. That’s a reicpe for disaster. Even worse, a natural disaster found us unprepared in the South, because we were sitting around desperately trying to be smug about how right we are. We got caught with our pants down.

A proud, angry teenager who can’t admit mistakes is an unhealthy citizen of the world. That where we are now.