What happened to us?

A lot of bad stuff has happened to The United States in the last decade.  To start off the decade, we were attacked during 9/11, which was a terrible tragedy.  But what came from that tragedy was the true American spirit shined again.  Americans hadn’t had that much pride and brotherhood since WW2.  But then it got old, people got tired of Bush starting wars left and right, and then among many other problems, our economy crashed.  In a short 6-7 years, our country went from a prideful, unified nation to bitter, small, and extremely bipartisan.  In the last year after a new President was elected, half of the country was filled with hope of a better tomorrow, but the other half remained bitter and cold, and infected the rest of us like a virus.  Where has all that post 9/11 unity gone?  Where is the hope of change?  Where is the American spirit?

Right now, although things have gotten a little bit better, we are still in a terrible situation.  We are still involved in 2 wars, the economy is barely alive with unemployment numbers in the double digits, and millions of American still live without healthcare (including me).  But we’ll pull through it, right?  Just like after 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, right?  Wrong.  The problem today is we don’t have an enemy to rally against this time.  The enemy is ourselves and the only solution we’ve come up with so far is blame the other guy.

The New Guy

I say it’s time to forget about whose fault it is and just get started on a solution.  Although the government can only do so much, it is up to us to come together again.  If we aren’t unified, then we will stay in this crappy situation forever.  We need to stop listening to the main blamers like Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Keith Olbermann and start listening to Dodge.  Yep, that’s right.  Dodge.

Last night, while I was watching the World Series, a new Dodge Ram commercial came out that I had never seen before.  The title of the spot is “Manifesto” and it was done by The Richards Group out of Dallas.  The ad’s theme is “I am Ram” and carries quotes like, “I am fueled by optimism and a can-do spirit”.  Although the commercial is supposed to be selling trucks, it is really selling something that can’t be bought.  The renewed American spirit.

So the time has come.  It’s time to stop bitching and complaining about our current situation.  It’s time to stop sitting around a waiting for someone else to fix it.  It’s time stop blaming everyone but yourself.  The time has come to come together as American people and pull ourselves out of this mess.  I’m proud to be an American but I’m tired of it being a loser.  It’s going to be tough and the road will be long, but my name is Brian, and my tank is full.