We're Number One?

While watching Obama's speech to congress on September 8th, I took note of something he stated at the end of his speech. {The whole speech can been watched here} After laying out his plan for increasing employment in the U.S., President Obama concluded with, "Let's get to work, and let's show the world once again why the United States of America remains the greatest nation on Earth." I found myself wondering if this was a statement that I agreed with. Of course I agree that we should work hard to improve the status of our country. It was the latter part that I questioned. Is the U.S.A. truly the "greatest nation on Earth"? Coincidentally this point was brought up in class today, while we discussed the stories that we americans tell ourselves. One of the stories we had on the board was "We're number one."

Although we like to tell ourselves that, I know that in certain situations, the United States is not the best. In fact in some cases we can be the worst. According to these energy statistics for an example, the U.S. is the largest consumer of oil. And in this circumstance bigger is certainly not better. We also have the highest obesity rate in the world, indicating that our health is not the best. Not to mention we have the highest rate of alcohol related deaths, despite the fact that we have the oldest legal drinking age.

Clearly, the United States is not the best at everything. So why do we and the President tell ourselves we are the best, if it is not entirely true? This is not meant to criticize President Obama in any way. I think I would be saying the exact same thing to our country if I was in his position. He is just telling the people the story they want to hear, that Americans are superior. To answer my own question: Even if this is not always the case, I think it is what will help motivate citizens to work hard and create success for our country.