Why the American Myth Has Hit a Brick Wall

This essay is dedicated to my beloved Sarahon her birthday todaywho has been
an unfailing inspiration in the creation of it...

I have decided to dedicate my time to amplifying my knowledge of ethics so

hoping to become a full-fedged ethicistor, as some might say, ethician. The
reason for this is that a large part of the world is becoming somewhat more
intelligent, but at the same time unequipped with the means to channel their
intellectual powers to attain the ends they wish to reach. They so often fall
short of their objectives, and revert to feeling frustrated and unaccomplished.
They are not using their mental faculties to achieve the best results for society
and, above all, themselves.

Many years ago in Venezuela, I was listening to a BBC report concerned with
brain capacity. During the program/programme a professor, in a Californian
university, specializing in the study of brain activity, ventured to say that we
probably only use about one-tenth of our brain volume. He then quipped,
rather sardonically, that he supposed the people in California in all likelihood
utilize even only half of that amount! Surely, we can do better with our brains,
yet once we are exercising our brain's mightiness, would it not be wise to do
so with the thought in our minds that that practice should be what is
benefcial to all of us, should be what we ought to do, not what we ought not
to do, nor what we ought to do for our own selfsh selves?

The frst sentence of Peter Singer's Ethics is this: Ethics is about how we
ought to live. I wish, in this essay, to bring to the fore why the DisUnited
States (DUS) has come, in a sense, to an almost complete stop not being any
longer capable of pronouncing itself the so-called leader of the world, and
then demonstrate that the rational motive for this lack can be attributed to its
knack for doing things, so frequently, so wrongly.

If I were to Tweet each and every Americanall 326,000,000 of themand say

that You are doing something wrong, and you know it! I suspect that a good
portion of the addressees would accord with my declaration. Yet, most of
them, too, would explain that it was the other person's responsibility that was
the cause of the national quandary in which now the DUS fnds itself. Here is
the jumping off point that has brought the DUS to an inconceivable level of
adversity not seen before perhaps since the framing of the Constitution. There
is a slit down the middle. Man against woman. Woman against man. Red
states and blue states in opposition. Republicans and Democrats attempting to
outwit one and other seeking only to greedily accumulate more and more
privileges and wealth distributed to them and their fellows by means of
favors/favours and special interests. Never before has the DUS sauntered so
far down the road leading to Anarchy. The rich get richer while the poor get
poorer. We all know that overused bromide. It is this state of antagonism that
is a sure sign that all is not going well for America. The Bible preaches that a
house divided will fall down. It is alright to pit baseball and basketball teams
against each other, to even encourage businesses to compete amongst
themselves, to debate social, economic, ethical, and political theories
especially when the gives and takes are exercised in a state of toleranceeven
goodwill. That less and less respect for others' opinions has gripped the
citizens of the DUS, is ample proof that at the heart of the minds and feelings
of them, there is a terrible void that causes pain and profound feelings of
inadequacy.

America ought to take stock of itself. It has to navigate through some very
choppy waters. It ought to assiduously refect on what it is doing and wishes
to perform during its turbulent future. This assessment, accomplished out of
necessity (need is the seed of contrivance), will offer an untold abundance of
rewards for America's social, economic, political and diplomatic perceptions
of itself.

America ought to fnd its way to doing what it ought to do.

To lead the world, one ought to do so without spawning fear, but by

engendering respect.

Authored by Anthony St. John

25 September MMXVII
Calenzano, Italy
www.scribd.com/thewordwarrior
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