How Many Of You Hate America? | Teen Ink

How Many Of You Hate America?

August 21, 2009
By Eilina Sealtman SILVER, London, Other
Eilina Sealtman SILVER, London, Other
7 articles 0 photos 15 comments

The common view of things is often different from the reality. They can be twisted, beautiful images that shield us from the truth. Sometimes people should think of it not as a shield, but as a blindfold. Because a world superpower is taking steps too far. By consuming more fossil fuels than is necessary, by standing still and making no military progression when it was needed, and by waging war on a country and attacking soldier and civilians over a mere dispute for oil. This “great” country, is America.

Many people look to America and sigh with envy at “the American Dream” . However, that dream cannot last long, while America is guzzling up precious resources left on a rapidly crowding planet. These figures speak for themselves about the evident greed of America:



Coal > Production
531,822,000 ton


Coal consumption
1,060,000,000


Commercial energy use
8,148.38


Electric power consumption > kWh
3,920,613,000,000 kWh


Electricity > Consumption
3,892,000,000,000 kWh


Gasoline prices
0.77


Geothermal power use
5,640


Natural gas > Consumption
652,900,000,000 cu m


Natural Gasoline > Production
12,275,000 ton


Nuclear electricity generation
780.1 terawatt-hours


Nuclear energy consumption
821.1 terawatt-hours


Nuclear reactors operable
104


Oil > Consumption
20,680,000 bbl/day


Oil > Exports
1,165,000 bbl/day


Oil > Production
8,457,000 bbl/day


Oil imports > Net
10,400,000 barrels per day


Oil reserves
22,450,000,000 barrels


Usage per person
8.35 TOE per person


Wall plugs > Voltage
110 V


Wind energy installation
6,740 MW






These crimes are forgivable, as other nations are guilty of many similar crimes, such as Brazilians chopping down the Amazon. But global warming is not the most important aspect that we can hold against America. America has extorted countries beyond the point of recovery. Equador, for example, was reduced to a poor scrabbling wreck once America dealt out loans to them. Now Equador only has 5% of its national budget to spend on public services, whilst the rest of the money goes into paying off foreign aid, almost all of which goes to America. Is this right? Is it fair that Americans can bully nations? Furthermore. America threatens, assasinates, and then goes to war with the presidents of countries who refused to run their countries as they like. The war with Iraq is a simple example. America wanted oil. Iran refused to give for no good reason. Why should we just let them do this to us? Us as a world?
Oh yes, because they have guns!

The U.S.A government is a trigger-happy collection of murderous power figures, They do so much to the world, and yet they have nuclear arms and their military to point at other nations, and say “give me your money!” They succeeded for so long due to pure fear, but now other countries have the chance to strike back. America doesn't have all the power anymore. A single grain of rice can tip a scale. Somehow, America has set in a system which everybody likes. A system where people don't think. Where they impulsively buy items that will break very soon. In America, only 10% of items bought for a house are kept for more than a month, and only 5% of those remain for 6 months. America designs products to be made so they break as soon as possible, but will still leave the client with faith in the product, enough so to buy themselves more.

But who benefits from this system?

The aristocrats do. Right up in their trees, lording over us. There are bankers who awarded themselves millions of dollars in bonuses whilst creating a recession that would cripple thousands of struggling individuals around the world. This doesn't cause stress for people living on government benefits, but for the people who are just above the poverty line. America makes those people struggle and work every day. It does so by enforcing a system where the elite (namely money-posessing) people take hold. Can nothing be done to create a fair and happy world?

Well, there is something you can do. You can be fair. You can be smart, and you can think before reaching for your credit card while watching an auction channel. You can PAUSE and WAIT before buying that “wonderful new shave”. We have to know our limitations, and stretch them. Whoever is reading this, YOU are the workforce. You are the people economically enslaved. There is hope. You can work together towards goals such as Project Venus, Save The Forests, Oil Conservation, and Fairtrade. These small lifestyle changes will help you sleep at night. How can we sleep after reading this, knowing that we are only here through the turmoil and suffering of potentially hundreds of other men, women and children.

When a child reaches to the future, who will have the heart to say, “we've used it up, son.”


The author's comments:
Many of you will be enraged by this article. I mean no offence to any human being, merely a minority's actions. And if you can condemn a terrorist group, can you condemn a group of terrorist that don't use guns and use the American people to shield themselves?

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This article has 392 comments.


on Mar. 8 2016 at 8:39 am
Reality_Checker,
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments
Diet Coke, how could you think an horrific massacre like Sandy Hook as a hoax. Innocent people lost their lives and you dismiss it as a Hoax!!! I don't know how you ever thought that an atrocity like Sandy Hook was just a simple lie made to oppress gun owners. How do you sleep at night?

on Mar. 8 2016 at 8:30 am
Reality_Checker,
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments
I agree. This article is all hate and the problems that it describes isn't exclusive to America either.

on Mar. 8 2016 at 8:25 am
Why don't you show all of the good America did. No ones perfect. Don't you remember that Britain was an imperialist colonial super power who was oppressing the Indians (in India, not North America) and the Africans. Britain isn't perfect neither are we. Our politicians are not trigger happy murderes (Trump maybe), sometimes they do good for the world. Sure America attacked Iraq for oil, but it isn't unlikely that other world powers would do the same. Just please be tolerant of other countries and don't bash them for their faults because your country isn't much better.

EnderKing said...
on Feb. 29 2016 at 11:11 am
EnderKing,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
Sure the U.S. ain't perfect, but no country is. How about you look around at all the other problems countries are causing and not just focus on all of the flaws in the United States.

123stranger said...
on Feb. 19 2016 at 11:33 am
I am American, so I'm not a stranger to people "hating" America. But I am upset at some choices we have made.

on Feb. 7 2016 at 5:27 pm
very accurate & productive reply

Patriot said...
on Jan. 22 2016 at 12:29 pm
The fact is that the strong survive, and the weak are left behind. There's a reason that we have prospered so much in our relatively brief history, and it's because we aren't afraid to take what we need when we need it. That's less true nowadays, but if a country needs a resource and is strong enough to acquire that resource, why wouldn't they? We care more about our own than we do about whomever we roll over, because it's our responsibility to take care of ourselves. It just happens that there are resources out there for the taking, and nothing in our way to get them. So, your opinion is yours, but I believe that countries have a duty to themselves first, and should not be blamed when they show less concern for others above themselves.

DarkDragon said...
on Jan. 18 2016 at 10:04 am
DarkDragon, Louisville, Nebraska
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments
There was good and bad in this article, but how about the idea of using nuclear power to off balance are energy consumption. This is better than wind and solar because of it watts per acre. Would love to hear you thoughts on this.

mplo said...
on Dec. 30 2015 at 11:44 am
While some of what you say rings true, aura_c101, there are, unfortunately, a good number of homeless people here in the United States living on the streets, under bridges and/or in cardboard boxes, as well as in these huge warehouse/shelters for homeless precisely because they have no home to go to, either due to severe poverty, or to mental illness and/or severe substance abuse problems. The de-institutionalization that occurred here in the United States during the 1960's is a partial cause for homelessness here in the United States. Due to the closings of many psychiatric hospitals here in the United States (Many of them had to be closed, due to being extremely archaic and brutal!), thousands of patients were turned out onto the streets with no follow-up care, or no place to go. Friends and relatives either refused to take them in, or they threw them out, due to not wanting them. The de-institutionalization, while there were good intentions behind it, backfired horrifically, due, at least in part, to not being well thought-out, and it exacerbated the problem of homeless in this country by a lot.

on Dec. 3 2015 at 11:00 am
LittleRedDeliriousPrince SILVER, Parma Heights, Ohio
7 articles 0 photos 100 comments
I chose to read this article looking for a good factual argument, and I was not disappointed. Of course, I have found reading to comments on this article to be amusing. While I will not say whether I agree with you or not, I will say that you are entitled to your opinion and that no one else, including myself, should try to push another belief on you. All in all, I found the article to be well-written. You're a good writer.

on Oct. 15 2015 at 3:49 pm
Sorry couldn't hear you over all the FREEDOM!!!!!!!!

on Aug. 2 2015 at 10:37 am
SophieFloph PLATINUM, Seattle, Washington
21 articles 3 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Her stomach did a revengeful flop."

I saw this comment and I had to reply. I don't know where you're coming from and I appreciate you sharing your opinion, but Sandy Hook was a horrific, horrific shooting that was most certainly not a hoax. Children died in that shooting. Would they have died if it was a hoax?

on Jul. 20 2015 at 6:51 pm
Farhan Mohiuddin, Chicago, Illinois
0 articles 0 photos 7 comments
Your article has some good points and some debatable points. What's wrong is wrong, but America is not the only one committing wrong. I further expand some of the things we as Americans can do to make ourselves better. Check out my article if you have time : TeenInk.com/opinion/current_events_politics/article/813863/Islam-and-Modern-Peace/

AvalonJane said...
on Jul. 15 2015 at 1:52 pm
AvalonJane, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which one can live. I could not live in any of the worlds offered to me -- the world of my parents, the world of war, the world of politics. I had to create a world of my own, like a climate

I'm literally dying laughing over here you guys. Whatever idiot wrote this article obviously had some American boyfriend who broke her heart. I think everything about this article is hysterical. I'm loving the exaggeration of every little detail. And the added drama and tragedy. Fiction. of course, but amusing nonetheless.

Ibbitson2 said...
on May. 26 2015 at 1:18 pm
1.You accuse America of invading other nations who don't run their nation the way Americans like it. Sorry, sweetie, but that's not how it works. We fight for the freedom of the women who cannot go to school in Saudi Arabia and we fight for the gay couples whose heads have been chopped off by radicals in the Middle East. 2.Also, Equador did take loans from us, and "loans" mean "money you have to give back." That's not bullying. 4. The American middle class is one of the richest classes in the world. 5. So what if my dad wants to get a nice shave? He's supporting the manufactors. 5. Don't mistake cynicism for high-mindedness. 6. No one ever said America was the land of success, but it's the land of equal opportunity.

on May. 11 2015 at 12:45 pm
ABPippins SILVER, League City, Texas
5 articles 0 photos 42 comments

Favorite Quote:
To die may be an awfully big adventure, but to love is an even grander affair -myself

I agree with you saying the author seems misinformed. To the author: Instead of just including American usage of resources, other countries consumption should've been provided for comparison. The title really set me on edge and I think the phrasing could've been less accusatory towards us Americans. We as a nation can only elect our representatives for our government. after that, it's up to our Congressmen and Representatives to make the best decisions for us. We can lobby and petition, but the politicians don't always heed our say. Next time you want to write an article like this, please take into consideration our economy, government structure, and your tone.

on Mar. 30 2015 at 12:19 am
s.mitchells BRONZE, San Jose, California
3 articles 2 photos 3 comments
Ok America has made mistakes like any country, but do you even know what the American Dream is or how the government was originally intended to be like? The American Dream is to be successful and the government's purpose is to allow people the freedom to go after their dreams without interference from the government unless someone is causing another physical harm. You have not put your statistics into good use and you just seem racist against Americans who have all kinds of opinions on topics.

on Mar. 11 2015 at 4:53 pm
If you are trying a journalistic approach, you need to rethink your tactics because this article is entirely too hateful. I'm unimpressed by the data you provided on oil usage because you have no counter arguments. Majority of household appliances are manufactured and designed in China. No wonder they break. We know what we are buying and if you want to pick on American's as a whole, then consider the fact that not everyone is a mindless idiot. Your article is not only hateful to the population, but to the government. Yes, we have our downs, but take a step back. Look at the big picture before you go picking on something bigger than you, with such a narrow opinion.

jezrar said...
on Feb. 12 2015 at 9:28 pm
jezrar, Miramar, Florida
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible"

Some citations would be appreciated

UncleSam said...
on Feb. 4 2015 at 5:59 pm
The measure of a country's greatness can be seen in the amount of people trying to get in compared to the amount of people trying to leave. I don't see many people leaving. I also don't see you writing in German little girl.