America is Good Enough

Today, I'm fighting back tears. I look at the United States and I am wonder what things will look like in four years. I'm terrified for our country.

I don't really care that Obama got re-elected. I don't really care if you're a Republican, Democrat, or a Communist. We're in deep trouble.

I have debt. I am not proud of my debt, but I am glad that the country I live in has given me an opportunity to go to school despite economic hardships.

Most college students have acculumated some credit card debt as well. Unfortunately, I am not exempt from this. I have some credit card debt. Approximately forty dollars, yes only forty. Why? Because my parents taught me to never spend money I don't have.

However, when I came to college, I discovered what it meant to invest. I "invested" twelve dollars into a lip pencil. My initial payment didn't go through, and I ended up being charge sixty-five dollars for a lip pencil. Interest really sneaks up on you.

The United States has trillions of dollars in debt. The interest still acculumating is three trillion dollars. If the sixteen trillion dollar deficit was divided evenly throughout the American citizens, we would each be responsible for about 51,000 dollars. That's higher than the median income listed for individual Americans in the 2010 census. It has gotten to a point where we don't even care because the number is so beyond us that a few hundred thousand dollars here and there is barely going to matter.
What about us? How are we going to begin to support our economy? How are we going to man up and stop relying on China to give us what we need? What can we do as counties and states in America to do our part in helping?

There is literally nothing I can do about how Barack Obama and his administration choose to spend my money. I could write letters all day, but I have to have hope in the people I (or in this case, America's people) elected. 

I am challenging myself and everyone who reads this to invest locally. Buy local produce from a farmer's market. Buy clothing and objects not made in China. Investments need to be more than just financial, though.

We need to invest in our local talent. We need to express interest in the art and education in those in our area, especially the young people. We need to take time to volunteer at elementary schools, helping kids learn to read. (Two-thirds of America’s children living in poverty have no books at home).

It is not going to be easy. It is not going to be cheap. I'm not asking you to buy absolutely everything locally because I understand that is expensive and not always feasible. But what if, this one time, you decided to spend ten dollars more on that American made product?

I believe that America is worthy of it. I believe that American products are good enough. I believe that my father, a local business owner, is good enough. I believe that the clothing I can buy at a local boutique is good enough.

The rest of the world doesn't give us the respect we deserve because we don't seem to respect ourselves. We claim to be the greatest nation in the world and then we buy all our products abroad. We are being supported by a country that does not share our values, at all.

My friends always make fun of me for using the phrase, "what is my life?" Right now, though, I am not asking that. I'm not even asking "what is my country?" but rather what can my country be?