Kacie Stephenson

English 1010
Analysis essay
A Great Speech About Why America Isnt Great Anymore (But Can Be.)
Arthur Carla Seaquist writes on why America is no longer great, we are going to take a
deeper look into her findings and state what current affairs are the problems vastly rising.
Although America does have its problems, I think saying America isnt great is an unfair
statement. America is great, we just are not as great as we used to be. I believe America needs
some work, however who is going to do the work?
Carla Seaquist states America is in deep troubleeconomic, political, cultural, and
moral. She never does state what it is that makes America in deep trouble. What are the exact
problems? What is it about the economics, the politics, and the culture, and the morals?
Will McAvoy was recently on the Newsroom and stated the following statistics about
why America is no longer great. "Were 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life
expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor
force and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories. Number of
incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defense
spending..."
Were seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, and forty-ninth in life expectancy
As these all may be very true facts, but why is this the argument we are focused on? How about
instead of focusing on being seventh in literacy, we take a look at why we are seventh. Now what
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are we going to do about it? If we are forty-ninth in life expectancy we need to focus on how to
get our lives back. Say we start by eliminating the world of refined, processed foods. In reality
there is nothing food about the foods they are feeding us because thats what the average
American can afford. We need to get proper treatments for Americans for deadly diseases instead
of hiding the cures or leaving the things that do help illegal. Another great focus would be
making healthcare affordablefor EVERYONE! Not only that we are only number one in
incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defense
spending. Believing in angels is not a bad thing. That leaves hope in humanity and life in
general, so to me that is not a bad thing. However, I do not see how being number one with
incarcerated citizens per capita is a good thing. There is nothing great about saying we have a
nation filled with crime. Our defense spending is at an all-time high, according to Buisness
Insider the US spent an estimated $601 billion dollars last year on defense, and where exactly did
all this spending go? There is plenty that can be done to make America better, but with no actions
America stands stagnate.
The anchor (Jeff Daniels) snaps America isnt the greatest country and goes on
delivering this speech, a cry from the heart, about why.
We stood up for what was right, we fought for moral reasons. We
passed laws, stuck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars
on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our
neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we
never beat our chest. We built great big things, we made ungodly

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technological advances, explored the universe, cured disease, and

we cultivated the worlds greatest artist and the worlds greatest
economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men. We aspired to
intelligence, we didnt belittle it, it didnt make us feel inferior, we
didnt identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election,
and we didnt scare so easy.

He goes on we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were
informed. By great men, men who were revered. He concludes, First step in solving any
problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.
There is absolutely no way I can argue with his speech. He hit it on the head with exactly
what America used to be. I think in todays world we are blinded by what is really going on.
Everyone is so wrapped up in their everyday lives. We are so lost in our smart devices we no
longer but our noses in books to educate ourselves. As he states we were informed, so why are
we no longer informed? Is this where the problem lies? Where did Americans go astray? There
are so many questions but it seems as nobody has any answers. Everyone wants to complain
about how un-great America is; however what is anyone doing to change it?
For those of us heartsick over the moral state of things in this country, this is pure
catnip.A true statement! America has us right where they want us, scared and afraid. What
happened to give me your tired, your hungry, your poor. The land where people came to make a
better life? For anything to change we need to be the integrity. We need to bring back
intelligence and morals. We as Americans need to stand up and make America great again, one
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step at a time. Its going to take a conscious effort of every American to make it happen, let alone
work. Its a penetrating truth that needs to be whole-heartedly understood by everyoneto save
the nation!
America was built on the foundation of freedom and the pursuit of happiness, we need to
strive to get that back and keep it that way. As a nation we cannot stand divided.

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Citations:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-america-isnt-great_b_1658235
http://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-25-more-signs-that-america-is-not-12012-6
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-us-military-spends-its-billions-2015-8

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