Of Thee I Sing IV

While Congress deliberates, young people (ours and theirs) continue to die in an ill-advised, ill-conceived, ill-executed war. Since the late 1800s, the U.S. has been involved fourteen times in the forceful overthrow of foreign regimes, often with a poor result. If America really wants to be the Leader of the Free World, we need to master the art of Diplomacy and reserve war as a last resort for instances of real, unavoidable, and imminent threat.

So, as Leader of the Free World, how are we doing? The U.S. is now the largest debtor nation on the planet. We consume, by far, the most precious natural resources and generate, by far, the most environmental toxins. We are a violent, crime-ridden society, with an incarceration rate three times that of Iran! We have the highest rate of teen pregnancy among industrialized nations and one of the highest infant mortality rates. UNICEF ranked the U.S. 18th (of 24) for effectiveness of educational systems. We are not even among the Top Ten longest-lived, and in a World Happiness Survey, we ranked 46th! Is this the model of democracy that we are so intent on spreading around the globe?