"idea: The strength of America is also it's weakness"
*I know its politically incorrect to say "America" when I really mean "North America". Subject string length be damned.
A thought I've been kicking around for a few days, its pretty loose and I'm trying to articulate it but, here goes
I believe the thing that makes the USA great is because of the hybrid culture and history. I'd rather not use the term "melting pot" because that is very loaded term. But, I think its possible to admit that a lot of our traditions and culture are assemblage of sources brought in from people from other places.
(I realize that this is a tricky area to navigate given the brutal effects of supremacy, racism and classism)
This might be a bad analogy but I think about hybridization in biology and how it can sometimes produce stronger organisms than organisms from the source
This pooling of various outlooks is what gives the US its own flavor. I cannot prove it but I believe that this has been our strength
So now on the other side of things I believe that this is also our weakness. We are divided, hard lines are drawn.
Many people do not want to be inclusive while at the same time not realizing that this country's strength comes from it's hybrid nature.
I get how many of us want the best of other cultures but do not want to own up to it or include the people of the culture....this is also where I think about this being a weak point / stress riser for US culture/politics
Now, I am not a historian, and I'm not a scholar, this is the start of an idea (and one that I am sure is not unique at all) thats been circling in my head, it is incomplete and so I post it here to get some perspective
3. "Lucrative and unchecked greed is the gift and curse." In response to Reply # 0
It kind of annoyed me that no one actually answered your question.
You were so wrong but so eagerly genuine about discussing it.
Native American genocide African American slavery Undocumented immigrant labor Rise of corporations and the oligarchy
If America wasnt so historically and currently greedy to the point of railroading people of other ethnicities who dont have other viable options, the country wouldnt have such a huge race problem.
------------------- 'Some have lives that haven't gone the way they planned, and some are trapped in situations they can't stand...'