Is This As Good As It Gets?
OK, so there is this weird thing that America does, like all of us. I would never walk around town saying, “I am the greatest person that ever lived.” But Americans will say to the world, without hesitation, “America is the greatest country that has ever existed.”
Whatever our true rating is in the world. What does ‘great’ mean anyways? Why do we think it is OK to walk around screaming about how great we are? It’s funny because in Eastern religions ego is considered the devil, the only satan that Eastern spirituality has is one’s own ego.
America has a lot of ego. I'm not talking about Americans, I'm talking about America. There are plenty of good Americans. This would be all well and good except, it’s not. First of all, it eclipses the truth, if America is so great, why are so many people in America suffering from economic despair. Most people don’t have an extra 500 dollars for emergencies.
Is that great?
But let’s say hypothetically we actually were the best that exists. That’s a pretty low bar. In a country where you can lose your home from a medical bill from a visit to the emergency room, it does not bode well for the rest of the world. If we are the best, just how bad is it out there?
Or perhaps, maybe we don’t look at it like it is a contest. Maybe there is no best. Maybe we are all just trying to get by. America is just getting by, just like the rest of them. Just like the best of them.
The number of resources that one American uses are not even comparable to any other individual in any other country. Or so I have been told. We are taking up a lot of space.
If America is so rich, how come you and I don’t feel rich? On some scale or another, we actually might be the richest country in the world. Which begs the question, where is all that money? Why am I not seeing any of it?
Photo by
on
The Coronavirus has brought up some interesting questions about America’s greatness. Why are our nurses and doctors screaming that they don’t have enough equipment and that people are going to die if we don’t act fast? I feel like this doesn’t feel that great. I don’t feel like I’m winning anymore.
If America wins the best prize, where is my prize? What am I getting out of this? Really good Internet?
I’m not going to lie, I have seen countries like India, I have gone to the bathroom in places where there are no toilets. I’m aware of how bad it can get. I don’t know if I thank god enough for toilets, but I’m going to put that on my list.
Seriously.
The problem with America is not that we are not great. The problem is we are pretending we are greater than we are and ignoring the truth. We can do better.
The world sucks, we all know that. But let’s be honest, America sucks too.
Many, many people in America are living paycheck to paycheck and the Coronavirus is exposing the fact that without these paychecks the entire economy can fall.
Photo by
on
And maybe, just maybe we don’t just live in a country. We live in a world.
Do borders really matter after all if we are all human? Does that sound like a hippie thing to say? Yes? The truth is no one really owns the land, just as no one owns the air. These are precious gifts from nature that were meant to be shared.
When we die, do you think it will matter to us what country we lived in, what country we died in? We lived in this world.
As far as planets go, this cannot be the best one out there either. If this is the best, I am very sad for the universe. And as far a animals go, are we really the best at that too? At being an animal? I feel like maybe we are not that good at being an animal.
No other animal kills other animals or hurts them unless it’s for food or survival. I doubt any other animal thinks they are the best animal around.
We are arrogant. As humans.
This only blinds us to the truth.
We are not living our best life.
No other animals are destroying nature. Nope, that would just be us.
People. People, we need to see ourselves for who we are. We are just trying to get by, but we can do better than this. As Americans and as Humans.
Don’t get me wrong. We are great. But not nearly as great as we could be.
If we saw ourselves for who we truly are, we may start the process of getting better.
The truth. The truth is great. It is, in fact, the greatest thing. Maybe the only thing that can save us in this little contest we are having where we are all losing.
nina