First, it is great to be an American--most days. But there are some days when deep down I think there's something greater than being identified and growing up in such a blessed country. I know we have our issues, serious ones that are usually brushed under the rug, but considering the rest of the world there is no better country to have citizenship in.
After reading Bono's thoughts, I did start to waiver towards this personal feeling that America isn't so grand. I sometimes feel like my former self hails from another motherland. And it's words like these that reinforce those lingering thoughts.
For example, "the idea of America, from the very start, was supposed to be contagious enough to sweep up and enthrall the world.And it is. The world wants to believe in America again because the world needs to believe in America again. We need your ideas — your idea — at a time when the rest of the world is running out of them."
These so-called ideas may be what the world needs, but right now all I hear are words with no weight behind them. Bono praises Obama for 36 words, which when spoken sound amazing and have the potential to impart hope to all listeners (and readers), but I took rhetoric and know that you can say a whole lot with out really saying anything.
Sometimes I think our great nation does just that. We may be the most popular country again, but it doesn't mean squat if we don't do anything to back that claim up.
So these meanderings might be in the same vain as Bono's, but I obviously don't have the platform, recognition or fame to pass them off as wisdom for the New York Times. Maybe for my next post I'll compose 36 inspiring, highly illustrious-sounding words and get the opportunity to rant for the Times--on second thought, maybe not.
Oh, and btw, I know Bono's not American--he just wishes he was.
