You could be living in Burma, South Sudan, Ethiopia, or Syria, becoming accustomed to mass murders almost every day. You could be living in mud huts in Africa – like many of its population do – where clean water, food, and electricity are luxuries; where 1 in 10 children die before the age of 5; and where adequate education and healthcare are nearly impossible to find. You could be in Uganda, where being gay is punishable by death. You could be in any of a handful of South American countries where murder rates surpass many university graduation rates. However, you are lucky. Very lucky – because you live in the United States of America.
It is human nature to find and complain about what is wrong in one's life – and moreover, to complain about what is wrong with others’. It is human nature to find issues with the masses – to proclaim oneself above average; and to victimize oneself. Or to feel like some things aren't fair – to believe your circumstances are never a fault of your own but the fault of others around you. Nonetheless – and with all of that said – it is also human nature to feel gratitude. But in America, at times, that has become increasingly hard to grasp.
In a nation where our foundational public needs are largely met, communities are predominantly safe, public education is free, healthcare is subsidized, water is clean, roads are paved, freedom of speech is protected, and democracy prevails, one would anticipate widespread gratitude for such conditions. Indeed, if these luxuries were extended to any of the aforementioned countries, describing their populations as grateful would be an understatement. This is precisely why millions of hopeful immigrants risk their lives to come here.
However, for reasons unbeknownst to us, we seem incapable of acknowledging these immense privileges within our own borders. As a college student in America, I observe peers who are quicker to harbor disdain for America than to appreciate it. Ironically, these individuals embody precisely what they claim to despise about America: a society characterized by ignorance, blinded by privilege, and lacking awareness of the rest of the world.
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