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The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

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Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

America is not the greatest, but it could be

I pledged my allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. I voted. I pay my taxes. I write letters to my representatives. I do all of the citizen things. But one thing I don’t do is proclaim that I live in the best country ever — and no, it is not Obama’s fault, or even Bush Jr’s. We are part of a system that was once great but has since been broken, yet we remain coerced into patriotism from a young age. As children, we are spoon-fed capitalistic ideologies and taught that other countries marvel at our industrious ways. We commend civilizations that are “westernized,” and we leave the successes of other countries out of our history lessons. We practice American exceptionalism in academia and relish our idolized, grandiose notions of American supremacy. America is no longer that great, but it has the potential to be.

We live in a bubble. In it, America is the world’s all-star player, and if we criticize America, we must not bleed red, white and blue (read: we’re likely in cahoots with terrorists, socialists or hippies). I have personally been told to “get out if I don’t like America” when expressing criticism of American politics and systems. And in all fairness, I have threatened to move to Canada a few times. However, if the Syrian refugee crisis or border patrol down in Texas/Arizona has taught us anything, it’s that “getting out” is not so easy. So instead of empty promises or idle threats, maybe it’s time pledge our allegiance to improving our beloved America.

Even though we have the freedom to express our political opinions, questioning America’s greatness is seen as some sort of patriotic espionage. However, if we look at the criticism as constructive and implement policies here that also allow other countries to succeed, then perhaps we can become a humbled and progressive society. If there is any disbelief that we are not the best country in the world, consider this: America is not the richest country. We are ranked seventh in the world. For a country who prides itself on innovation and technology, a 2012 study showed that we rank 31st in the world in math, 21st in reading and 24th in science.

Still not convinced? We are the second-worst polluter globally, while Costa Rica has gone Carbon Neutral. We have the highest incarceration rate, have the most firearm deaths of any civilized nation and are the only developed country that executes prisoners. We are rated 39th in income inequality, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD) has rated the U.S. as having one of the highest tuition costs of any OECD country. The U.S. is ranked No. 49 out of 180 countries in press freedom and is ranked No. 25 out of 43 for being the best place to be a mother. America is one of two developed countries that does not guarantee maternal leave, unlike Russia and Armenia, which both provide 140 days of leave with 100 percent salary.

We don’t even succeed in happiness. We are the 10th happiest nation, falling behind Norway, who ranks first according to Forbes.com due to their social capital second in safety and security; Denmark, who ranks first in entrepreneurship and opportunity, based on high levels of social equality, high connectivity and the world’s lowest start-up costs; New Zealand, which ranks No. 2 in governance, education and personal freedom and has the highest tolerance for immigrants; Sweden, who has high levels of political participation, social equality and environmental protection; and the Netherlands, with broad civil liberties and social cohesion.

Although America used to pride itself on being one of the greatest and most powerful countries in the world, it’s time that we resign our self-imposed position as the world’s supreme power and admit that some countries are just doing it better. We must concede that we are not the wealthiest, we are not the happiest, we are not the best educated and we are not the healthiest. Simply put, we are not the best. Admitting the problem is the first step to recovery, so it’s time to shed the Americana ego and begin to model the successes of other nations. Let’s regain our pride and our right to be prideful. Let’s make America great again.

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