In a country where presidential candidates make fun of each other and try to have the best approval rating. Where the government uses taxpayers’ money on things they don’t want their money spent on, and is still in debt to most countries because most people realize they don’t have to work and can be on welfare. Welcome to America.

Don’t get me wrong. America is a great country. It’s just not as good as it used to be. Things like 9/11, atheism, and Donald Trump have scarred this great nation. They have caused Americans to lose sight in what is really important.

The History
It all started in the 1800’s when Charles Darwin created the Theory of Evolution. In the 1960’s the government decided to put evolution into all of the text books. After this point, divorce, crime rate, and the number of people doing drugs all rose. It’s only getting worse. Lots of people do drugs, drink, or commit crimes now.
After 9/11, terrorist attack started to rise. Now we have terrorist groups like ISIS killing innocent people. The government is trying to stop the problem, but it’s not working. We’ve even had Americans join other countries or commit acts of Terrorism like the bombing in Boston.

Culture
Through the years American culture has gotten dirtier. Most movies nowadays have language and some kind of nudity, most songs curse, and most video games are rated M. These things can be educational and good for the family though if made for that purpose.

However, one great part about America is football. Schools usually have a football team and most people go home and watch a football game of their favorite team or players. Football is a good way to get people together for a good time. People could even enjoy some food and spend sometime together at a tailgate before a football game.

Politics
The Republican candidate this year is Donald Trump. His father gave him a small loan of a million dollars, and he turned that into a multi-billion dollar business. He decided to run for president this year. He wants to build a wall and get illegal immigrants out of the country and from keep them from coming in the country. The Democratic candidate this year is Hillary Clinton. She is married to former president Bill Clinton. She believes in gun control and keeping America’s reputation with other countries good. She has a long history in politics and has made her fair share of mistakes.

Religion
As the years go by, less and less people go to church. Most Americans don’t go to church. According to Americans, 40% of people go to church on a weekly basis. Because people don’t go to church, people don’t know the right way to live and follow the road to destruction. Government decisions don’t follow God’s word. Prayer has been taken out of school and we are being taught about evolution by more people now. I am lucky to have teachers that all go to church and follow God.

Debt
America owes $19.4 trillion to other countries because 35% of the country is on welfare and taxpayers use their money to pay for that welfare. America has had to borrow money from other countries because we are not getting as much money from taxes. America is only accumulating more debt from the lack of tax money.

Poverty

Many people in America live in poverty. Even though the economy in improving, poverty is still a big issue. In 2014, 45 million people live below the poverty line. This means that 14.5% of Americans live in poverty. People are trying to end poverty, but it’s just not doing that much to help. There are still lots of homeless people living on the streets in big cities.

Crime
As the years go by the crime rate has risen tremendously. In 2014 there were 14,249 murders, 325,802 robberies, 62,939 cases of child sexual assault, and more than 250,000 cases of rape. The police are overwhelmed by all of the reports of crime they get, especially in large cities. In large cities, you could get mugged just going in the street. That would not be a place that I would want to live or raise a family.

Racism
Even though segregation ended in the 60’s, racism still exist today. People are racist and discriminate against black people for no reason. Even cops can be racist and arrest black people for no reason. It’s not fair to black people after all they have gone through to still be told they are not as good as white people are.

School
Schools are not what they used to be. Kids might curse or do drugs. About 17% of high schoolers smoke or drink. Drugs cause bad health and will cause you to die earlier. More kids are called to the office or suspended. Which could be a sign that they are going to be a criminal when they get older, or they could be one now. More kids are also failing or a drop out than there were a long time ago. That means that people won’t be able to get a good job and this worsens America’s debt.

You also have to worry about college. If you do good in sports or schools, you might get a  scholarship, but college is still expensive. It usually requires you to get a job, and it often leaves you with student loans and debt that you have to pay off later when you have more money. There are many programs that help with these things however, but you will still be in debt from paying for school supplies, food, and going to that college.

Drugs
Drug use has risen tremendously in the past few years. People are getting bored of the entertainment we have today, so they turn to drugs to make them happy. In 2012 there were 669,000 heroin users, 1.5 million heroin users, and 25 million people who have smoked weed. This leads to not thinking normal, laziness, and maybe even death.

Pharmaceutical drugs are even addictive. In 2010 2.4 million people used prescription drugs non medically for the first time that year. That means 6,000 initiates a day. Antidepressants and ADHD medicine can be addictive. That’s not even including other medicines that you can just but with a prescription. There is no way to stop this either because people  need these medicines to get better or even live in some cases. Some medicines you don’t even need a prescription for. These drugs are easy to get and easy to get addicted to.

Drinking alcohol and tobacco are also huge problems. As long as you’re old enough, you can buy these things no problem. In 2013 136.8 million drank and 40 million people smoke. Tobacco contains many harmful chemicals. Most of the are addictive and hurt you. Alcohol doesn’t let you think right. That causes people to do stupid things. This could include car accidents, fights, stealing, or even murder.

However, there are many programs that tell kids about the danger of drugs. Dare and RAT are a few of these programs. Most kids use this knowledge and don’t smoke or drink. Some kids ignore this and smoke and drink anyway. This is especially harmful if they start doing drugs as a teenager since their brains are fully matured yet. They also are more likely to get addicted to drug than adult since their brains are not as mature.

The Good
America may have its problems, but you have the freedom to do whatever you want. You can worship freely, vote, and go to school. We have the luxuries from being a first world country. We get to enjoy TV, music, and video games. We are not usually thankful for all that we have. We usually focus on the bad in our life and not the good. North Korea has to deal with a dictator, the Germans used to be Nazis, and Afghanistan has a war going on. We think we have it bad, but compared to other countries, we have it great.

We have people that risk their lives on the battlefield for us. We have emergency responders who help us if we need it. We have good medicine to help us when we are sick. We have people who put out fires and stop crime. If we need answers we have access to the internet, so we can use Google to find those answers. If you believe in something you can make a stand for what you believe in, and people have to respect your opinion.

Conclusion
We often here how America is going down, and it’s only getting worse. We fail to realize that America is still a great country. Other countries have America’s problems plus more. They have people dying from disease or a dictatorship going on. They may be living in poverty or not have the services we have. We have more freedom than any other country.  America may have its problems, but it is still a great country.