two hundred thirty three years

Hello friends. Long time, no blog.
In light of celebrating America's birthday, I'd like to say a few things that have been on my mind.

What makes America so great:
1. Abundance=what makes me angry is when people don't realize how good we got it. I think every ignorant person should spend a day in a third world country for a month in order to gain some appreciation. Poverty in America is a good week for some countries. Sure, we see those sad commercials on TV about how you should donate money to this and this organization to feed these starving kids, and we feel remorse for not doing charitable things, but then our featured presentation comes back on our plasma screens in our air conditioned home and we forget about it. We got it good. If I'm hungry, I have the ability to go down to Freddies in my car to get whatever food my little heart desires. If I'm dirty, I can hop in the heated shower and get sparkly clean with my Herbal Essences and Dove soap. We got it good. And I think that if Americans realize this, then our current national economic crisis probably wouldn't have happened. We would have stayed within our means and avoided overspending in our consumer-driven world.
2. Freedom=I don't really like reading international news, but it's like the bad car crash. Once I look, I'm disgusted, but at least I know what happened. I read about the bombings, which I'm sure are made PG through editing and careful selection. I read about the evil men and women gaining power and using it for their own advantage. They take civilized people's choices away. I'm so so immensely grateful to not worry about getting on the public bus at school and it being bombed. I'm grateful for being able to choose. Clothes. Religion. Who I vote for. What I say. Where I work. etc etc etc. Being a religious person, I'm so glad to be able to choose who I want to worship and find for myself the truth in all things, instead of having an international sect that has become too corrupt and government involved. I believe that God made America so that truth is able to come forth and remain incorruptible.
3. Safety=This kind of tags along with the freedom bit. We have national security and we optimistic Americans step in when something bad happens, unlike other countries who just take it and pray that they're not next.
4. Capitalism=I'm worried about this one; it's slowly but surely being taken away from us. I hope it stays and we Americans can take advantage of it. Competition is what makes the economy go round and international trading to be successful. We can choose where to buy our towels and where to eat dinner at. We have the ability to strive for the American Dream through healthy hard work and determination to make it in this world.
5. Stability=Every 4 years, we elect a new President. We have systems and protocols that are followed by the book (or are supposed to be). There's no wondering when our civil war will end or who the next tyrant will be who dictates how the country is run.
6. Checks and Balances=We have people who are watching people who are being watched by other people. Keeps our government in line, for the most part.
7. Dreams=We have schools and institutes that enable us to become who we want to be. I just finished this great book called The Book Thief that's about Nazi Germany through a German girl's eyes. She was in school and grew up becoming a certified Hitler Youth. She didn't necessarily believe what Hitler did, but she didn't really have the choice to be anything else. If she wanted to become a teacher, she had to teach what the Furher wanted. If she was a doctor, she was put into the army to tend to the injured. I'm also grateful for the ability to be a woman and have the opportunity, if I so choose, to go to school and study whatever my heart desires and go into any occupation that suits my own needs and those of my future family. I can become an accomplished pianist, or a heart surgeon, or an elementary school teacher. Whatever I choose to be!

I'm the American who likes to go to the neighborhood parades, and get decked out in red, white and blue, and post flags everywhere I go. I like the traditional, early American patriotism, where everyone closes shop for the 4th and sets the neighborhood on fire with fireworks bought down the street. I don't ever want to forget what it took to get our nation to where it is today and what sacrifices everyday heroes had to make to get us here. I love being an American.