My thought on the State of the Union

It interested me, as I had never really thought of why the US has become hated worldwide. I mean, I had some idea (world domination, problems with foreign policy, general Ugly Americanisms), but I never really thought it out. I didn't buy Idiot Bush's idea that the "terrorists hate us for our freedom."I guess I am as guilty as anyone else in some extent. I was 21 when the Cold War ended. To a republican, that worldwide tension had been solved by Ronald Reagan in the most Rambo-like, and would never really impact my life. As I got older, I started to understand that Korea and Vietnam were the two most famous battlegrounds in the Cold War, but those were both over years before I was born - well Vietnam was just a couple years over. I moved on, and assumed the rest of the world did as well.But think about it. For 50 years (or so) all these little countries had been the pawns in a chess game, where checkmate would have meant the end of all life on planet. They were basically considered expendable, the citizens worth about the same as used matchsticks. They weren't considered important except for how they could be exploited. Even today, what does the average American feel for people dying overseas? It is doubtful that 10% of us Americans even know where Darfur is, and if they did know, they wouldn't care. The people there can't buy American goods, they can't sell us oil, does that make sense? many still live along tribal lines; they're just images shown on PBS newsprograms. I think the average American-me include is more interested in getting a plasma TV or going on that perfect vacation than in people who pop up on CNN maybe once per month. And that would be enough reason for resentment to grow. But there is more.(and I know I'm paraphrasing the article, so sue me.) America is supposed to be a symbol of democracy and freedom where we embrace diversity, individuality, tollerance and the opportunity to better one's self. But is that still true? How much control does the average US citizen have over the decisions made by their government on any level? Take the Presidential elections that we hold. They are in fact nothing more then a popularity contest every four years, send people off to a big city on the East Coast, and basically just let them do whatever they want. And we've been doing it for years. It is easier to just let someone else take care of "it," whatever "it" is. My home state Senatorial race is a perfect example: we have two canidates here, saying basically the same thing (with very slight differences), screaming at each other to win a chance to forward their personal agendas. When whoever gets there arrives, we won't have any say in what they vote for. We can call them, send them letters, e-mail them, even walk into their offices and tell them what we think, and they still have the right to vote however they want. Most experts agree that it might take generations to fix the problems between the US and the developing world. I think it will take a complete change in the US. Maybe even an end to the US as we know it.