There's an article circulating around called: Made in the USA: Spoiled Brats. It's been mistakenly attributed to Jay Leno, but was written by commentator Craig R. Smith. It talks about a poll that states that 67% of Americans are unhappy with with the direction the country is heading, and 69% are unhappy with the performance of the president. The article begins by asking what people are so unhappy about: their cars? the abundance of food? Their great education? And this, I feel is legitimate. A lot of Americans have no idea how blessed they are and how abundant their lives are. They are quick to complain about rather petty concerns without realizing how many people would die to live here--and do every day.

But then the writer goes on to lump ungrateful Americans (the spoiled brats) with political dissidents--basically, anyone who disagrees with the current president and the direction the nation is headed. This is an oversimplification. When people say they are unhappy with where the country is headed, it is not necessarily because they are ungrateful or unhappy with what they have. That would imply that people only think about the US in terms of their experience of living here, and not also in terms of the role we play internationally.

Let's take an example: I am very happy with my ability to have a car, but I'm not happy about the United States' role in global warming. And I know that our fuel consumption has lead to wars in the Middle East (let's be real about why we're really there; we knew they didn't attack us in Iraq, and there are horrible dictators in Africa that no one is complaining about or going to war over--what's the reward?). It's lead to rising global temperatures, and huge use of fresh water and materials to make our vehicles. And I also know that our president denied that global warming existed during his first term, and still refuses to abide by Kyoto protocols to this day. I know that he'd like to drill in pristine eco-preserves in Alaska instead of creating sweeping measures to switch to other energy sources.

Americans have a huge impact on the rest of the world--we're a super-power, essentially--and we have a responsibility to be a positive model for the rest of the world to follow. Many of us are disturbed by the huge drop in respect we've had globally, the anti-American sentiment that has nothing to do with our discontent and everything to do with our senseless wars, wasteful lives in the face of deep poverty, our ruthless border laws, our reckless consumption, and our rogue mentality.

This is why international citizens have "disdain" for American citizens, not because we don't like our president and are unhappy with where our nation is headed. I've traveled all over the world and spoken to people living in trash dump communities in the Philippines, single, starving women in Tijuana, and orphans begging on the street. I've also heard this from the wealthy elite around the world. I am not merely speculating--I know.

Smith's article ends with a rather disturbing call to arms:

Stop buying the negative venom you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

This statement has haunting echoes of comments Bush made shortly after 9-11 which were that we should basically forget about what happened and get out and shop. Remember the shopping bag with the American flag posted everywhere? Here was an opportunity to reflect on what we have become as a nation, to reflect on how we want to respond to the terrorism, to talk with our neighbors and engage in creating a new nation. But instead we were encouraged to bury our heads in the sand and shop. To ignore what our government was doing and just get back to work and let them take care of it.

Smith's comment above does the same thing. We should, essentially, burn alternative media sources (I didn't see him tell us to turn off Fox news), and stop caring about what's going on. While I believe in positivity and gratitude, but I don't support chosen ignorance. A balance must be made.

We live in a nation whose choices have a huge footprint on the rest of the world, politically, socially, and environmentally. Unfortunately we don't have the choice to be disengaged. We don't have the option to stick our heads in the sand, and we do a great disservice to the world if we go down that path. Instead we need to choose the path of educated engagement while coming from a place of gratitude for all that we have.

Ultimately, I hope Smith--and those who think like him--would open their minds to another, greater possibility. Many of us are deeply grateful for what we have in this country, but we don't feel that we should have it at the expense of others. I think that those of us who are unhappy with where the country is headed are unhappy because we don't need America to be better for ourselves, we need America to be better for the world.