The United States of America is the greatest nation history has ever seen. It is not the largest country by territory. That’s Russia with a total area of about 17 million square kilometers. Nor is it the most populous. That’s China with its 1,397,897,720 people. But the U.S. is a resource-rich land, and it is the biggest economy in the world.
We are a great country because of the freedoms we allow our people. The first amendment to our Constitution specifies five freedoms Americans will enjoy: speech, religion, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government. But the U.S. is a great country in another sense. It allows its citizens the freedom to achieve in any field they choose. With hard work and application of talent, an American can earn a comfortable living while finding fulfillment in doing work one loves.
All that said, the U.S. is far from flawless. With a history stained by slavery, prejudice continues to weaken our civic achievements. We still have laws and civic structures which favor the well-to-do over the middle class and the poor, and economic inequity plagues us. We still allow voter suppression at the state level, and our unwillingness to ban fire arms from our society makes us one of the two countries in the world with the most gun deaths per capita (Brazil is the other). As one of the nations that has failed until now to address global warming, we have joined others in inviting world-wide disaster.
But we have the means we need to improve. We can elect legislators and leaders who will help us correct our faults and guide us toward “a more perfect union.” We can do it, so let’s get on with it.
Tom Glenn, Writer 