This is Us
As I was growing up, I believed the United States was the best country on the planet. Boundless opportunities awaited anyone not afraid of hard work, and justice always prevailed thanks to our sacred Constitution. As the generous benefactor of less prosperous nations and a beacon of excellence for the entire world to emulate, we were the bearers of light and hope to the entire world.
Being born in the USA was akin to hitting the reincarnation lottery. You, the average American citizen, are envied by all. Freedom! Democracy!
That’s what I believed because that’s what I was taught by every adult in my life. Why wouldn’t I believe it? Hell, why wouldn’t they believe it? It’s all they’d been fed their entire lives too. American awesomeness was merely the natural order of things. You didn’t have to question it, you just knew it, and accepted it.
God was in Heaven, and Heaven was called America.
And all was well.
Until at some point in your life (if you’re paying attention at all) the truth hits you as violently as an anvil on Wile. E. Coyote’s head in a Roadrunner cartoon.
