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Welcome to America

April 1, 2010
By icefaerie10111 GOLD, Exeter, Rhode Island
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icefaerie10111 GOLD, Exeter, Rhode Island
12 articles 8 photos 25 comments
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Welcome to America: A land of opportunity
where a man on Welfare can make more than a public school teacher.
Welcome to America: A land paved in gold
where we are in trillions of dollars of debt.
Welcome to America: "Liberty and Justice for all":
where our pledge does not include minors or homosexuals;
where it is not applied to the oppressed and those in debt.
Welcome to America: A land for the people
where the cooperation is clearly a person as you and me, from a political aspect.
Welcome to America: ...and by the people
where you can buy legislative power from a governor in Illinois.
Welcome to America: A effort against the "Drug War"
where we can't even keep our police officers clean.
Welcome to America: Where people and legislature see eye to eye;
where a democracy and a republic clash heads.
Welcome to America: Separation of Church and State
where we have only had two non-Protestant Presidents.
Welcome to America: A land of freedom
where women no rights until 1848, and could not vote until 1920;
where African-Americans were isolated from society until the 1960s;
where American Citizens of the same nation had to kill each other to abolish slavery.
Welcome to America: A Nation of peace
where we are always at war.
Welcome to America: A Nation united
where states are divided.
Welcome to America: A Nation of tolerance
where "the people" see Islam in the government as more of a problem than economic reform.
Welcome to America: A Democracy
where we win votes by scandals and controversy, not political action or issues.
Welcome to America: Does the system work for you?
where fitting into the system is more important than improving it.
Welcome to America: Where several police officers were killed in a cafe a couple of weeks ago;
where no one noticed because they were too preoccupied with the fact that Tiger Woods cheated on his wife.
Welcome to America: Most politicians one were lawyers;
where it seems being a celebrity gives you power equal to that.

Welcome to America where many people who read this article never got past the second line because they would rather ignore the issues than resolve them.

© Monica L., St. George, UT

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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 211 comments.

tnf88 said...
on Sep. 13 2012 at 7:21 pm
Wow i loved your stucture, but if you dislike our country so much than go try living in a country where your killed for your religion or your dying of starvation, I'm just a kid and i don't know much about that stuff but I do know we have it better than other people. I respect your opinion 100%. Just think you live in a country where you can express youreslf freely as you just have. Keep writing!!!
LittleFlutiePie GOLD said...
on Sep. 13 2012 at 1:22 pm
LittleFlutiePie GOLD, Greeneville, Tennessee
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Absolutely amazing! I was about to log off for the day, saw the title, and started reading. You captured me from the first line. I love this! Many people do think America is the greatest country in the world; in some ways, it is. But even we have our faults--I try to preach this to the extremely country-proud rednecks at my school who don't listen to reason most of the time--and it seems like no one but the people ignored (minors) and prejudiced want to actually change anything.
MarieAntoinette2014 DIAMOND said...
on Sep. 13 2012 at 11:28 am
MarieAntoinette2014 DIAMOND, Scottsburg, Indiana
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Omg, you deserve a freaking medal. Thank god there are people like you out there, who have the guts to say this! I agree with you a hundred percent.
Emin3mAC SILVER said...
on Sep. 7 2012 at 9:54 pm
Emin3mAC SILVER, Nogalas, Arizona
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The BEST poem I've seen on here! Write another! 
Boj95 SILVER said...
on Aug. 22 2012 at 6:57 pm
Boj95 SILVER, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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This is great! I really agree with a lot of what you are saying. It is wrong that "Liberty and Justice" is not really for all, and politicians who care more about reelection than actually solving anything make me mad. From a writing standpoint you might want to rewrite some choppy lines that were a bit hard to understand. This is great!
shark SILVER said...
on Jul. 31 2012 at 12:39 pm
shark SILVER, Huber Heights, Ohio
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I totaly agree with what you are saying! Not to mention our unemplyment is up to about 8% because our jobs are being outsourced. Where women get pregent and get money from the govorment because they are a single mom and they never even bother to get a job! America is screwed up and we need to make a change soon or we will be in a hole that we are unable to fill!
ailurophile BRONZE said...
on Jul. 31 2012 at 12:12 am
ailurophile BRONZE, 20 Minutes From Everything, North Carolina
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This is truly a unique piece, it expresses all of America's issues in an interesting way. Anyone who tries to justify any of these issues doesn't know what they're talking about. Excellent job
samj97 SILVER said...
on Jul. 8 2012 at 10:34 am
samj97 SILVER, Deerfield, New Hampshire
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This is amazing..it definitely speaks the truth about what is happening

 

TheBlackRose BRONZE said...
on Jul. 7 2012 at 10:04 am
TheBlackRose BRONZE, Madrid, Other
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Great article, I think we should all try to transmit this message always. I would also like to say that all the problems you wrote about aren´t only an issue for Americans, here in Spain (and I guess all over the world) they´re exactly the same 
BlueRain BRONZE said...
on Jul. 6 2012 at 3:06 pm
BlueRain BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
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Lm, we actually ignored the Holocaust in the early part of the war, partly because we thought intervening would be too much work and also because we weren't very favorable to the Jews anyway. So when we "discovered the Holocaust", we still stuck with isolationism relating to that area.
BlueRain BRONZE said...
on Jul. 6 2012 at 3:03 pm
BlueRain BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
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I think that's the message people are getting wrong when responding to this poem, "sure America is a bit messed up, but look at everywhere else!" That's definitely not the point. I gave that answer to my parents when I was younger and I tried to convince them I didn't need to go into advanced classes, "I have A's, I did my job." And they kept saying that it didn't matter, that I shouldn't be judging my successes on the height of that scale, that people should always be striving to make the scale Bigger, not just get there.

This is not the best America can do, this is not us working to the best of our ability. We need to stop sitting in our comfortable high chair, pretending that the work is over. It's not. Challenge that top bar of that scale, people. I think that's what this article is really about.

SamsQ GOLD said...
on Jul. 6 2012 at 10:47 am
SamsQ GOLD, Naperville, Illinois
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Wow. This is amazing! This piece really spoke to me. You really know how to make a statement! Keep writin!
Floyd7888 SILVER said...
on Jul. 5 2012 at 11:34 am
Floyd7888 SILVER, Pleasant Grove, Utah
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they should read this artical to elementary kids so they wont be brainwashed their whole lives thinking that theres absolutly nothing wrong with us
GHALC BRONZE said...
on Jul. 3 2012 at 9:57 pm
GHALC BRONZE, Adasdasd, Kansas
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Ive read this, over and over. I love it, theres a couple grammatical errors but who doesnt have'em? Thank you for this, its awesome :D
AMJaeh DIAMOND said...
on Jul. 3 2012 at 8:03 am
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Well let me tell you....i read every word to the end and the last line really got my attention and your right a lot of us "Americans" would rather overlook the source of our problem...which not speaking up doing something about a situation...I absolutely love this piece and shared it for all my friends to see....wonderful job...im sure you opened up a lot of tight shut eyes with this one....
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very nice indeed...i loved the repetition of WELCOME TO AMERICA.....splendid.. :)
She-who-loves-love SILVER said...
on Jun. 30 2012 at 2:26 pm
She-who-loves-love SILVER, Tecumseh, Oklahoma
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This article is just... so absolutely true. I think everyone thinks there might be something a little bit screwy with the way this country is run, but it takes a strong mind to even admit it to yourself, and it takes a hero to admit it to the public, to acknowledge it in this way.
Shadoww GOLD said...
on Jun. 28 2012 at 7:50 pm
Shadoww GOLD, Oak Lawn, Illinois
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I absolutely love your article. I like how you tell how everything really is in America. This country isn't perfect and it will never get any closer if we don't do anything about it.
jackiee129 PLATINUM said...
on Jun. 28 2012 at 10:06 am
jackiee129 PLATINUM, Kent, Connecticut
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maybe you should try re-formatting it? just a suggestion.
icefaerie10111 GOLD said...
on Jun. 28 2012 at 9:28 am
icefaerie10111 GOLD, Exeter, Rhode Island
12 articles 8 photos 25 comments
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I must have commented this a thousand times: the purpose of this poem is not to compare America to other countries, it is to point out our flaws in our "model of western democracy" and hopefully open peoples' eyes so we can makes changes.