The US of A

Reflecting on my recent short Fall trip back home, I can’t get over how beaten and battered she appears.

As I was flying back over a beautiful stretch of the southeastern United States, I couldn’t help but wonder at the natural beauty and pristine, aesthetically pleasing urban landscapes below. Yet, on a more close-up view, what I see most vividly is that the country is suffering.

The list of woes is long…it’s as if the past fifteen years have taken a huge toll on the country. What am I saying? Of course, they have!

Even as the world suffers, it’s superpower appears to suffer the most.

What with…

The Worst Economic Downturn in Most People’s Lifetime

A Debt Crisis

Jobs, or the lack thereof

The dearth of consumer confidence

Politics much worse than usual, given the coming election year

Congress and its inaction (see Politics above)

Wars

Bailouts

Trade Imbalance

Occupy Wall Street

Worry about Europe

Worry about China

Worry about Iran

Etc…

A list that is long and hardly uplifting….

Ultimately, however, I think most will agree that it all comes down to one unquestionable, fundamental problem –

It’s the Economy, Stupid.

But.

If any country can pull itself out of this dip, steep as it might be, it’s the US of A.

So, from missing the country and being away for so long, while seeing it suffer like never before, this is simply a journal entry in my diary. It’s for myself,  for reading later during the (inevitable!) good times.

And it also serves as a personal “Get Well Soon” card for America the Beautiful. Sigh.

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Fall Scene: By Joel יוֹאֵל from Tullahoma, Tennessee, United States (Flaming Orange Red Autumn Tree) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

American Landscape: By Luciof (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons