What's Wrong With America

By Paul J Balles

Paul J. Balles compares American’s self-perception with the world’s perception of America. He argues that most Americans need to become better informed Americans, that informed Americans need to waken most Americans and that all Americans need to respect what the rest of the world likes and dislikes about America.

What most Americans dislike about America:

The recent American election results revealed which issues the public is concerned about. Their election of Barack Obama as president along with a Democratic majority in the Congress provided a mandate for the US government to address these issues. These were raised and debated, indicating the voting public’s concerns.

• Allowing unrestricted searches and seizures violating the US Constitution
• Squandering the nation's wealth on weaponry
• Funding wars while US taxpayers lose jobs, homes, education and health care
• Fighting wars for foreign gas and oil while ignoring alternative energy development
• Hundreds of thousands of unforgivable job losses
• Wild inexcusable market speculation
• Unnecessary inflation
• Continued support for military occupation of Iraq
• Lies and deception by government officials
• Fear of a depression
• Fear of unemployment
• Fear of losing homes in foreclosure
• Inability to meet the costs of health care and education

What informed Americans dislike about America:

Though some Americans spend little time following news about issues that don’t affect them directly, many have a number of unfounded opinions about government, politics, society or the world but are generally uninformed. Informed Americans don’t limit themselves to the major media, but take time to access a number of sources.

• Illegally-enacted police-state laws violating the US Constitution
• Defaming Jimmy Carter for speaking the truth about Israeli apartheid
• Media allowing Israeli historian to encourage bombing of Iran
• Censoring books about the Israeli lobby in America
• Ignorance of the importance of pleasing Israel to get elected
• The Bill of Rights guarantee of freedom of speech violated
• The right of habeas corpus demolished
• Congress allowing the executive branch to supersede its powers
• The people allowing the Congress to yield its powers
• The people and government ignore the loss of civil liberties and the guarantees of the US Constitution
• Granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies for illegal wiretapping
• Promoting a destructive free-market ideology
• Funding Israel's illegal wars and settlements while US taxpayers lose jobs, homes, education and health care
• Major media’s unquestioning acceptance of what the government says

What the rest of the world dislikes about America:

A number of things that America has done or is doing have violated others’ rights and interests. This has resulted in a rise of disdain toward America.

• The general resistance of Americans to accept any criticism of America
• Vetoing resolutions voted for by the whole world faulting Israel's misdeeds
• Boasting about the importance of democracy while overthrowing democracies the US government doesn't like
• Supporting Israel's near total destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure
• Blind support of anything Israeli while Palestinians starve
• Executing plans for a global American empire
• an illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq
• Illegal incursions into Pakistan
• American double standards, like committing war crimes while faulting others

What informed Americans and much of the world dislike about America:

At times, informed Americans and the rest of the world have spoken in harmony about American misdeeds.

• WMD phosphorous dropped on innocent civilians in Fallujah
• WMD depleted uranium in bombs dropped in Iraq
• Rendition and torture of people dubbed, untried "enemy combatants"
• The ends justify collateral damage (deaths of innocent civilians)
• Killing a million people and displacing four million more in Iraq alone
• Threatening a new cold war with Russia over Georgia
• Threatening a new cold war with Russia over satellite proposal for Poland
• Threatening a new cold war with Russia by surrounding it with NATO membership for previous Soviet Union countries
• Torturing prisoners
• Threatening to bomb Iran

Postscript: Most Americans need to become better informed Americans. Informed Americans need to waken most Americans. All Americans need to respect what the rest of the world likes and dislikes about America.