United States: the view from an outsider.

Even the "native Americans" came here from somewhere else--over the land bridge from Siberia to Alaska, probably 15,000 years ago. What was done to the natives was atrocious, as is what is being done to them now. I have relatives on a reservation--they are a broken group of people. I also had relatives that arrived on the Mayflower, as a matter of fact, and some that emigrated from France and French Canada. While diversity is a great thing, our current embrace of cultural differences is only driving people apart, in many ways--people are no longer just "American". Immigrants no longer have to have a sponsor, no longer need to be able to read, write and speak English, no longer have to have a means of support--so they are essentially still "outsiders" in a way that doesn't work well for the nation as a whole--it's no longer "I am an American whose ancestors were Mexican" for instance--it's now "I'm a Hispanic/Mexican American". When diversity is a part of unity, then it is easy to look beyond the difference in skin color, or religion, or whatever. But when diversity is prized more than unity, issues like skin color, religion or culture can be very divisive. A nation divided amongst itself cannot stand--I think it was Lincoln that said that--and he is right.

very well put.. I lived 13 years in the usa and saw many people there from other countries. i also read once that 45 % of the people in the usa originally came from other countries. great post.. have a wonderful day there.

I agree with just about all that has been so well said in the original post and in the replies. I am a several generation U. S. American with roots far enough back that I do not know when my ancestors originally came to the U. S. As far as I have been able to determine my heritage is German, British and perhaps an unverified and very small amount of Native American. In my lifetime I have seen the growing instances of violence such as that recently in the school in Conn. which I almost never heard of as a kid growing up. Now part of that, but a small part, may have just been because news coverage was not so immediate and widespread. But the main part in my opinion is not just the availability of violent movies, games, TV shows, etc. but a wider spread of the deterioration of the family unit and of parents doing a good job of raising their kids. It seems to me that today so many parents want to put the responsibility of raising kids off on others such as schools and the government. When I was a kid, I was expected to behave, to get good grades, to obey laws and to treat others respectfully. This was without any harsh punishments or overly strict rules. Kids learn from their parent's example and today so many in each new generation seem to setting worse and worse examples for their kids.

Wow, I don't think I could have said it better. I think it is important that people become aware of the diversity of the world around them and that all people are human no matter what they look like on the outside. I have always believed that color is only skin deep and that one person is not better than another based on the color of their skin. What makes a person better than another is how they act and what they do to make the world a better place for everyone in it. I felt really bad when I heard about the Connecticut shooting and I still find it hard to believe that it actually happened. It is a sad day when the media sensationalizes such incidents and then people wonder why such incidents keep happening. I think that there do need to be changes to many things in this world in order for things to improve and to prevent such things from happening again. Some people talk about not giving up their right to bear arms, but why do people need semi-automatic weapons at all? Thanks for sharing your viewpoint!

One of the reasons we can't unify is because those who cause division are those who refuse to pick up a history book. The willful ignorance and dismissiveness and denial make it impossible for them to learn what happened in our past and its direct relation to current policies and current situations.

Thanks for sharing your opinion as an "outsider". I think that no one can see their own country's culture, government, and history clearly until taking on things from an outside perspective. I am an American, but I have learned so much more about America by visiting different countries and seeing how things work there. America has had several accomplishments and I am grateful to live in a country that has had so much success (making it easier for me to become successful) and also one that allows so many freedoms (especially the first amendment). Yet we need to take responsibility for our failures and seek the opinion of many in order to improve our country. The work is never done. The Constitution is a living document written by imperfect people, and there are times when we need to make changes in order to improve our society. We should respect the views of people who have not grown up in our country--though there might be a few things that they don't "understand", they might see things as they really are and help us find new solutions. This is one of the greatest strengths of a global culture--we can learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses.

The US is a big blend of culture, but how much of that you experience has more to do with the area or region where you live than anything. To a certain degree, this also depends upon your social status and income, since someone who is well educated and mid to moderately well off is not likely to live in a ghetto area. Also regardless of culture, there are nice respectful people, and there are terrible people. When you have children, you of course prefer to spend more of your time around the former, and you will often look carefully before choosing a place to live in order to make sure that is what your children see. Politically, I believe that America actually has a decently sized portion of people who want nothing to do with either side. To say or even believe that America is republican or democrat is silly, if I were to give a list of the top 10 things of importance in my country, nothing relating to politics would be anywhere in that list of 10. Americans are also of many different religions, Christian and atheist being just two groups. One thing that really doesn't make any sense to me are people who move to America and think they are better than the generations of Americans who have already been here, who want to change everything so that it mirrors the way they do things in their home country. WHY? YOU moved to THIS country, why try to make it what you left? I don't understand that at all... and to look down your nose at Americans or make fun of them? Of course we are different from you lol. I love to meet people but I take offense to people who don't even know me and think they are better or entitled to something and I'm not, etc etc. I have no idea where that attitude comes from and sadly I see it a lot. I also see way too many immigrant children whose parents don't seem to care about how their kids do in school, they don't participate in extra curricular activities or sports, etc. This goes against what I used to believe - that if someone cared enough to come here, they would try to learn English and make sure their kids had every opportunity to succeed. I don't know if it's the economy or just these times, but nothing is as it used to be.

Well said, Marg. BTW my eyes are brown, lol.

I think that in many cases we are becoming a people that expect the government and laws to fix all that is wrong in our lives. We have forgotten that the reason many come to this country is to escape government control. When terrible things happen we go over and over what we could have done to prevent this happening. We look for social reasons or medical reasons for such actions. however I never hear much about the fact that our children for generations have been raised on violence as an acceptable solution to problem citizens not only in our country but in the world. There is so much violence in all our lives and entainment that somehow it has become unreal to us until something like these school killings happen. As long as each of us accept that these things happen and there is nothing we as individuals can do to stop it this result is bound to happen. We must each ask ourselves, can we give this up, can we live without violence? I pray that the answer is yes. Blessings, may this be part of the old world which is ending. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

The fact that there are still so many people in the United States that are so very prejudice is something that really does bother me. However, I will tell you without a shadow of doubt in my mind that I am not one of those people. I judge people because of the fact that they are human beings and they have feelings that are the same as mine (I don't mean opinions, those always differ, I mean the emotions that we experience). When it was time for my children to start school, I didn't cherry pick school districts so that my children would not be exposed to racial diversity, in fact, I love the fact that there is not a racial majority at their school, it is evenly split between Hispanic, African American and Caucasian students. In doing this for my children when they were young (or while they are still very young as is Paul's case), I'm showing them that people should all be judged because they are human beings even though everyone does not look the same as we look.