America's Adolescent Angst

Dear World,

We are broken right now. 

My country is going through a rough adolescence and I really hope we will make it through to adulthood. At heart, America is a magnificent place. I love the ideals represented by the Statue of Liberty, our Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution with it Bill of Rights. Freedom, equality, individualism and democracy give us a promising DNA, but right now, we're having hormonal problems.

I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, but we're having temper fits. Like a sullen teen, our government is threatening tariffs to our best friends. Canada and Mexico, you've done nothing to deserve the vitriol headed your way. You're the siblings that we seem to be taking out our discomfort on. It's not what most of us would choose, but it's happening. I'm sorry.

We've also become prone to side with the schoolyard bully. I mean, what did Denmark ever do to us? Why are we trying to steal its beloved Greenland and rename it an absurd "Red White and Blueland?" You can't make this stuff up...and yet, it's happening. I'm sorry.

On top of that, we've become a bit of a busybody. Our parents taught us that it's important to help other countries, but there comes a point when our help is actually escalating situations. I mean, we didn't need to offer to turn Gaza into a new, Trumpian riviera. And our timing just sucked. Seriously, our colleagues in the Mideast were moving forward with a ceasefire that was slowly releasing hostages and sending refugees back to rebuild their homes. We didn't need our figurehead to stick his nose in there and make ultimatums. (We could have helped without making such brazen threats.) I'm sorry.

Oh yes, and then there's our new messy habits. We're not cleaning up our toys; we're not doing our part to help the earth. I know there are fears that are hard to deal with, but we have to grow up. We have to recognize that our planet is struggling and it is incumbent on each of us to do our part. Instead, we've nearly pulled out of the Paris Accords, only hanging on because a few billionaires paid our bill. Our climate is changing, and we need to face those facts. I'm sorry that we are shirking our responsibilities.

I'd like to say that we're becoming cliquish, but I think I have to go lower than that. We're becoming pompous snobs. When we were younger, we knew that many colors make a rainbow and many notes make a song. In our teenage angst, our leaders are forgetting that. In so doing, they are putting so many people at risk. I know the danger of marginalization. We've all seen the graveyards of racism, homophobia, antisemitism, ageism, islamophobia, ableism, Asian hate and more. We've seen the faces of Latina children separated from their parents, living in detention centers that are reminiscent of concentration camps. Our snobbery is breaking families and stamping on souls. I am deeply sorry for this.

When we were younger, we liked to be helpers. We believed in doing good deeds. We liked trying to be healthy. But now, we delude ourselves into thinking we are invincible, just like a 16-year-old driving a car for the first time. We've left the World Health Organization, and stopped so many medical services to people in developing countries. It's almost as if we believe we can't get sick. We are blind to the truth that bacteria and viruses are color-blind. I'm sorry for our rugged independence and abandonment.

Years ago, I learned something about teenagers. They are about testing boundaries. Think about a kid swimming across a pool. Every so often, the kid needs to touch the wall. The pool needs to have limits, or else it is overwhelming. A parent's guidelines are like that concrete pool wall; they keep teens safe, but also give them place to explore. Our system of checks and balances is supposed to be just that kind of guard-rail, but we are relatively new to this. Some of our Congress is just going along with our mood swings.

We will get it together, but we may need your help. It's hard to grow up. At our core, we are a daring and generous nation with a wide array of talents and joys. Someday, I hope, we will thrive again.

But for now...For now...be patient with us. Help us find our path again.

Humbly,

A scared citizen