I resign from the USA, at least for a while

Dear United States of America,

I hereby declare my intent to abscond from your wonderful Land of Opportunity. You claim that your capitalist environment provides a foundation for living the American Dream, where everyone is free to become what he or she wants, to be successful if he or she tries hard enough. What you forget to mention is that some people have quite a head start. You seem to have forgotten that money goes quite a long way in this country. Multimillionaires have no trouble sending their children to the best private schools and universities. In some cases I suspect they even pay their way through the system. Is it really fair, too, that just because your parents went to a prestigious university, you have a better shot of getting in? What about those people who don’t have the financial means or supportive background to go through higher education? Are they then destined to live a life of minimal income, going from job to job performing unskilled labor?

That brings me to another point: the way you treat immigrants is really troubling. I can’t accept the fact that because my friend’s mother is here illegally, she too is an illegal alien, even having spent her entire twenty years living in and contributing to American society, babysitting for busy American parents and cleaning their gigantic houses. Why is it that she can hardly find a single university that will accept her, or for that matter, even look at her application, solely because she cannot provide proof of citizenship? Her best friend had a full scholarship to Harvard, only to be turned away because she wasn’t born here legally. These are some of the brightest, most motivated people in this country, and they are turned away, while others ride along the heals of their parents and make their way into extremely powerful positions without truly understanding the situations of so many others.

By the way, United States of America, I am really disgusted by your government. I thought that a democracy was supposed to prevent one branch of the government from gaining too much power. I signed up for a democracy, not an oligarchy. Mr. President, your war on Iraq is despicable, but even worse is the fact that you refuse to listen to anyone outside your closest advisors. You have congress and the American people telling you it’s time to change strategies and end this mess, but instead you insist on “staying the course.” Every day another government scandal is revealed. Where are your morals? You claimed to be the candidate of values; well I don’t see how covering up for your staff every time they engage in some outrageous, even criminal, act is morally sound.

Furthermore, I thought that America was supposed to be above discrimination by now. Well, we are far from a country where all citizens have equal opportunity. Why then are there so few women in management official positions? Why have we never had a female, a non-Christian, or a minority raced President? Explain to me why heterosexual couples are granted marital status and protections, while homosexual couples are not. We are not supposed to be a country defined by religion, and we are supposed to be tolerant of others beliefs.

Besides religion, it seems like economic interests, the prospect of gaining more wealth for the wealthy is always at the head of policy decisions. When the greatest scientists of the world are now all in agreement that human activity is causing climate change and global warming, why, United States, are you so inactive in changing your ways? How can you say that it would be too economically costly to try to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions? We are enormous contributors to this environmental destruction, we should be leaders in developing alternative fuel sources and cleaning up the mess we’ve already caused. Do you not see how devastating and unethical it is to go on wiping out entire species, melting of arctic glaciers and permafrost, and bringing about massive drought and flooding that will inevitably cause enormous problems for less wealthy nations? For a country with so much power and influence worldwide— enough to lead a war that is scarcely supported by other nations— why are we so reluctant to make changes to protect the environment? Why are we dragging so slowly at stem cell research that could potentially save millions of lives? Over and over again, I see that religion and greed are driving this country, and I am repulsed by it. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with those who are religious, or those who want personal wealth, but the direction of our country should be in the interest of all citizens.

I can no longer stand to live in this country that is not working on behave of the concerns of all citizens. You are not responsive enough to the people like me: I am not a big corporation, nor an interest group, nor a billionaire. You spend billions of dollars killing people in war, while sending American troops into dangerous areas without proper equipment, and at the same time, you are not serving the thousands of uninsured citizens, those without access to adequate health care and education. The more I learn of your actions, the angrier and more saddened I become. I wish you the best, may you one day come to discover the most important things in this world: promoting the arts and sciences, protecting the welfare of your citizens by ensuring that all have access to good healthcare and education, respecting the environment, and striving for peace. Good luck.