My American Concerns

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I want to like America but why is it so obese, why hasn’t it gone metric and why are there so many homeless people? The worlds only remaining superpower is a strange contradiction, an enigmatic, exuberant and innovative place, yet I feel let down that an apparent superpower spends trillions on wars and considerably less on a growing underclass. Just where are the United States of America headed?

On a recent flight from Barcelona to JFK I was staggered to see a middle-aged American woman snack on several packets of fruit loops for her transatlantic crossing. Doesn’t she know the cardboard is better for her?! She was more than happy to openly profess her love for this supposed cereal but so appalled was I that I pretended not to understand English for the entire flight. There are backsides in the USA bigger than the Grand Canyon! Have you ever noticed that the American toilet bowl is considerably larger to accommodate bigger bottoms? Don’t believe me, then just travel outside the continental U.S and compare the difference. And don’t take offense, America., you eat way too much and junk food is all too often the easy option. The convenience of the convenience store: the In and Out, The Jack in the Box, Burger King, McDonalds and Steak and Shake! Is it any wonder the United States has a weight problem? In Europe and many places abroad, eating is a social occasion not a throw down TV dinner. It isn’t about how much you consume, more about the company and conversation.

Is America the only nation on Earth that continues to exclusively use the imperial measurement system? Why? Metric is so much easier to teach. It’s all so logical. 10 millimeters equal a centimeter, 100 centimeters equal a metre, 100 meters equal a kilometer. Compare that with inches, feet and yards - forget it! Ounces, Pounds and Gallons may sound quaint but just how practical are they? Big cars, old-fashioned ideas… Surely the US will one day go metric?

Is America a nation in decline? Are her best days still ahead of her or yet to come? Tumbleweed in the Mohave desert? When I see so many homeless people on the streets of the continental Unites States it distresses me and I ask myself if a nation can truly call itself first world without caring for the poor and housing the homeless? It would be entirely correct to note that housing the poor is a global concern and not just an American dilemma, yet I tend to notice more of the forgotten people on the streets of Middletown America than I do anyplace else on Earth. The United States are relatively new, less than 500 years old. When faced with trepidation and terrorist threats from abroad, and within, she girdles her loins, adopts a steely resolve and sets about re-inventing herself with vigor and an at times, unmatched optimism. My question is, however, does the US really need to maintain her presence in the likes of Afghanistan and Iraq at considerable expense to the American Taxpayer?. What about the less well-off within America? I’m not about to give up on America because I believe the word optimism is largely an American invention and a wonderful ideal to live up to. I’ve long admired the American drive and determination for success…my concern these days is that the Pharmaceutical industry and Prozac may have given us all false hope… ?

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Photos

Empire State from the Highline
Empire State from the Highline at Sunset