A note first, just so you know, Jenny is the president of my class.
I'm tired, and I want out. I'm ready to be gone from here.
It's the song of the senior, and as predictable as it is bound to sound coming from a soon-to-graduate, it's true. I don't say it necessarily in the "I want to get to college as far away from home as possible" way, however. While that statement would be partially true, there are some parts of it that are a little too misleading for me to let slide. Like the college bit. There, I said it; I'm not going to college.
That is not the point.
It hasn't taken me so long to figure out that a city catering to 20,000; 10,000 sans Ferris chumps; people is not the place for me. I've lived in this predominantly white, Christian, red-necked place, that is, Big Rapids (extending to Michigan, extending to the United States) for the whole of my long life - 17 years, staggering, I know. I feel inclined to say that while to some, having lived only 17 years gives me 'no reason' to feel so deprived, I'd like to argue that when people are dying before the age of 30, it's damn stupid to wait to start 'living' until college. In fact, I might go as far to call it abusive of a parent not to travel and culture their child(ren) if they have the means to do so. Unfortunately, my parents, while having the means, saw it as decadent to spend so much money on vacations to far off lands full of wonder to persons of all ages, and so chose to spend most of the income on far more essential things, such as cigarettes- later cigarette rolling contraptions and bags of tobacco, alcoholic beverages, directionless appointments with under-qualified shrinks, and hair-dye kits to name a few. All the while I rot in a state of semi-despair, dissecting every glossy page of my magazines, and savoring time away at the homes of my friends'.
It would be wrong of me to blame my misfortune entirely on my parents', however. After all, the corrupt are born of a corrupt society. How can I rightly expect anything different from them when they were raised in this country?
If you haven't figured it out yet, this is a rant. Maybe not one of epic proportions, and maybe not new, but here nonetheless. I feel like lately the shortcomings of the homestead have become devastatingly apparent. I'm sure everyone is aware that the economy is going to the shitter here in Michigan, especially in the real-estate department. Also the fact that the newly revealed most-murderous city in the whole damned nation is a couple hours down the road from little ol' Big Rapids, is notwithstanding. Finally, Michigan has something to contribute! Speaking of individual states, did you know that California is the better half of the U.S.'s economy? Anyway… let me share with you some of the statistics in favor of people like me, who just want to leave, and want do it as soon as possible, because we internally cringe every time we are reminded where our citizenship lies.
America is the stingiest, most polluting, fattest, dumbest, criminal, unthinking 'developed' country you could imagine. Since I already mentioned the murdering lot of Detroit, I'll continue by expanding on the criminal aspect. The level of violent crime that occurs in the United States as compared with other industrialized countries, such as Britain, is exceptionally high. There are more reported murders in the aforementioned D-Town, with a population of about 1.5 million, than in the whole of the United Kingdom, which has a population of a little more than… 58 million. The murder rate in the U.S. as a whole from 1990 was more than double that of Ireland, which is torn by civil war. It was four times that of Italy, nine times England's and 11 times Japan. Furthermore, only 7% of all rapes are reported. Still, by comparison, the UN published statistics on Gender Violence stating that the reporting rate for robbery is 53%, burglary 52%, and assault 46% from the United States. The rape rate in the United States was eight times higher than France's, 15 times higher than England's, 23 times higher than Italy's, and 26 times higher than Japan's.
On a less depressing note, still not comforting, the U.S. also snags the top spot as stingiest of all the developed countries. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) wise, national wealth, that is devoted to foreign aid, the Land of the Free ranks twenty-second of the 22 most developed nations. It can be said that the U.S. is the biggest giver, but proportionately, the U.S. manages to give only .1% of GDP, while the rest of the United Nations has established the target of .7% GDP. In addition to holding back so much, what does go out only goes out to a select few. Fifty percent of the aid budget is spent on middle-income countries in the Middle East, and some sources report that around 80% of all the aid itself actually goes to American companies in areas receiving aid.
The recipient of the largest single share of the U.S.'s foreign aid is Israel, who is supported by the U.S. under any circumstances, with the U.S. vetoing any and all movements against Israel's illegal occupations. This, in turn, does not exactly heighten the U.S.'s importance and effectiveness in the UN Security Council. The U.S. and Israel’s simultaneous dismissal of the World Conference Against Racism and the U.S.'s lack of movements to ratify half of the six core Human Rights treaties keeps confirming my qualms- run, and don’t look back!
I find it interesting still that of all the interventions the U.S. has staged in foreign places under the guise of trying to improve the situation- think Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Cuba, Bosnia, Nicaragua, etc.- all the intended benefactors have ended up hating us in the end. Perplexing that the thing that all of them have in common is that they were virtually created by the 'Interventions' in the first place. Maybe the government will soon learn that the more weapons you put out there and the more factions you turn into monsters, the worse the fighting becomes and the less democratic is the resulting instated government. As can be guessed, my prediction concerning the outcome of the little project in Iraq or Iran or Pakistan or wherever they've sent troops last isn't what you'd call optimistic.
In other complaints, there is the lack of a national health service, and, horror!, rising gas prices and the decreased face-value of the previously thought almighty dollar. This is bad? It seems like here, everyone is terrified of having to pay more for energy and gasoline. It reminds me of when my mother still bought cigarettes from the gas station. Every time the prices were upped, she'd freak out and start bitching about how it's unfair and blah, blah, blah, apparently her addiction should be cheap! That's what it is, really, isn't it, an addiction? Silly me, I had thought that prices rising here were moving towards a, gasp, sustainable price for everyone! In addition, the U.S. refuses to support pollution treaties to reduce emissions from cars or consumption of petrol. Statistics from 1990 assert that 36.1% of worldwide greenhouse emissions can be accounted for by the U.S., and it keeps going up. Four percent of the world's population resides in the U.S. and 25%-ish of all the carbon dioxide emissions come from them. Comparatively, Britain and India both emit only about 3%, the latter of which contains about 15 times as many people. I'm thinking some of this is due to Etats-Unis stubborn cling to driving, rather than bicycling or walking- a seemingly forgotten mode of transportation, considering the obesity epidemic. Oh, yeah! 61% of people in the U.S. were overweight and 26% obese in 1999. I'm almost afraid to know what the numbers are now.
Anyway, back to the gluttonous consumption of fuel- I've got a notion that Mr. Dubya Bush can be blamed in this case. The election, if my memory serves me, was pretty straightforward. Oil, gas, coal, and nuclear companies donated upwards of $50 million in his election, just to get him in office. After the election, in which he did not receive the popular vote; another fault, that being the Electoral College; Bush denounced the Kyoto Protocol for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. I wonder if, with these kinds of things going on, the government can still be considered democratic at all. The interests of the people seem to be pretty nonexistent, while from a corporal standpoint, it's in the bank.
Speaking of my favorite president, I'd like to share some potential cliché quotes, for good measure. Was there ever a criticism of the U.S. that didn't include at least one? In light of the previous paragraphs, I find these most enlightening: "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating," deepest condolences, Mr. President. Also, “our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." Freudian slip, anyone? And, no offense to those of you in here who think you might be one of the sharper knives, but you'll never match Mr. Bush for intelligence. "The illiteracy level of our children are appalling." Well said. I for one, am quite envious of his effortless mastering of the language. Not to be outdone, Mr. Bush has apparently, "coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically." Well, Hispanically speaking, Mr. Bush, who, bless his soul, forgot that they speak Portuguese in Brazil, asked the President Fernando Cardoso, "Do you have blacks, too?" Good question. It seems that Mr. Dubya is the superior polyglot of our times, but, rather disappointingly, often refuses to enlighten the rest of us, and does not answer questions "Neither in French nor in English nor in Mexican." Well, maybe another time.
All that said, when Jenny comes a`knockin’ trying to find people to attend our high school reunions, you’d better not spill the beans.
