My government teacher asked me to define America with the use of pictures. Ha.

America can be defined in many ways. Our founding fathers had their idea of the “American dream” and fought for the formation of the United States in order to pursue it. Our government was laid out in hope of preserving the privileges that inspired our journey for independence.

First and foremost, the United States was set up defined by the principles of liberty and freedom. As a country, we didn’t want the diction of Great Britain to have an influence or control over our lives. As individuals, we wanted to be able to make personal choices for our wellbeing. Being able to have free speech, free press, freedom of religion, and other constitutional rights were designed to keep us unique and able to express ourselves without political repercussions.

America was founded with the intention of exploration. We wanted to be able to explore new land and new possibilities. The American way was designed for new and creative thinking. Opportunities were to be plentiful and without restriction. The country was to encourage pursuing your dreams without being held back by customs or tradition. It was a fresh start to make a choice.

Along with making a choice, a democracy was designed in order to keep a government over the nation without giving any sole person power for dictating citizens. We didn’t want to be subjected to a monarchy and have someone determine our lifestyle based on having “royal” blood. Voting let everyone (ignoring the initial suffrage restrictions of gender and race) have their opinion be heard and considered when making decisions for the fate of the country.

Our other most important defining quality was our union. We were formed as the UNITED States of America. No group of stood alone and we’d be a solid force in both tragedy and celebration. Families were to be appreciated and friendships were to be innate. Discrimination wasn’t supposed to be an issue and Americans were defined to be thankful for our survival and thriving experience as a new country.

Traditionally, this was more of the image of America. While some components remain, they’re deeply buried. The United States isn’t defined anymore by the hopes and dreams that were intended. Instead, the American way has come to show the lack of embracement for acceleration. Instead of taking the opportunities that were laid out as America, we abused so many of them.For that reason, I think that modern America would be more accurately defined in this light.

While we were given the chance for liberty and freedom, this privilege has become very misinterpreted. We’re providing the benefits of being an American citizen to more immigrants than natives. With Mexicans especially, there are so many people crossing our borders trying to justify that they deserve “freedom” as well. Rather than stand up against this issue, the government so often caves to every demanding need. Legal American citizens lose their rights at being able to freely explore opportunities and express themselves. Jobs are often taken by “minorities”. Rather than being able to stand up for how we’re being impacted, you can’t say that illegal immigration isn’t fair. If you do, you’re often labeled as a racist. Slavery definitely was a huge conflict, but it’s over. However, that doesn’t stop many African Americans from thinking they’re owed something to justify what happened in the past. With the foundation of having so much freedom, there are so many groups of people feeling as if they’re superior and entitled to whatever they wish to have that moment. This isn’t necessarily just racial minorities either. Americans in general come across very snobby and unappreciative to what our government does provide us with. Liberty may have been intended as an attribute, but it’s turned into a source for an ego boost.

As much as being able to explore new things was an option, we’ve left our skills drop to such a low level that it’s impossible for us to actually dominate a section of life in the world. We don’t have the mental intellect to advance as much as other countries do. Our education system has taken a very detrimental fall that will be very hard to ever get out of. Unfortunately, even trying to correct the problem leaves much effort to be desired because of the debt that the United States has accumulated. When you put either elements of the picture’s caption into perspective, it’s really quite horrible to think about. With 1/5 of Americans unable to even locate our country on a world map, I’m not sure how we’re supposed to stand a chance even surviving globally, let alone thrive as a global power. Her answer surely doesn’t help matters either. Americans are defined with a strong level of stupidity. We aren’t truly up to par with knowledge, and the majority is too clueless to worry about or even realize the issue in order to do anything that could effectively fix it.

Continuing the element of stupidity, Americans have the tendency to bond over the most disrupting things. With America being a newer country (in perspective to much of the world) and wanting to focus on the new ideas or concepts rather than tradition, Americans are known to not have respect for history. We’re very unaware of what our country has been through and how we are able to have the society we do today. This isn’t even touching on how very oblivious we tend to be about what’s going on elsewhere around the world. Classics, whether art, music, literature, architecture, or many other categories, aren’t appreciated as the American society is so consumed with the desire for the newest and “best” thing. Who cares about Pablo Picasso (even though it was later released to only be a replica) if we can get a few short moments of entertainment destroying it with caviar? It seems to be a defining characteristic of Americans today to not appreciate humanities and have respect for things in the way that majority of elsewhere in the world does.

Perhaps we embrace togetherness, but we rely a lot on technology to do so. While not all of this is bad, it still has a prominent impact of how Americans are viewed. Cyber schooling is a positive aspect of this lifestyle. Learning virtually is not as common in other nations. However, we also have minimized the personalization of communication with peers. It’s not the normal thing to actually meet up to talk to someone or mail them a letter in order to send message. Instead, texting and social networks have dominated society. I know so many friends who will be standing next to each other yet not say a word because they’re too busy texting each other. Rather than read a newspaper or novel, we’re more concerned with catching up with everyone’s Twitter updates. Our adaption to technology could be a positive, but it’s greatly impacted our communication skills. Many people do not know how to properly write because +h3ry*r3 2 8usy t@1k!ng l!k3 th!s. Verbal communication has like, decreased in like, quality and uhh… stuff as well because like, we aren’t sure how to err… form like, coherent sentences.

Technically, to me, both contexts define Americans and America as a nation. We had a unique and clear vision to improve the quality of life. Our government still pretty much holds this to be true. However, the American society has brought us another distinctive trait: a unique low. The first Americans started out embracing the idea of unique individualism. Currently, the United States consists of way too many conformists. The line between how the majority of Americans are compared to how America was intended is very clear, though I feel that to truly embrace the original foundation for Americanism you can’t let yourself be defined by a stereotypical definition.