Resources / Ripples & Wipeouts

That’s what Kommen Saric, an exchange student from Serbia, said last month to a reporter from the Banner, a weekly newspaper in Provincetown, Massachusetts. I keep up with events in Provincetown because I visit that Cape Cod town every summer. 

“And I expected to eat at McDonald’s every day,” Saric continued.  He also thought that all Americans are rich and that we give our children SUVs when they reach the driving age of 16.  Nice.  If this kid is any indicator, we are certainly projecting a lovely image to the rest of the world.

The economy isn’t the only thing that has suffered a massive devaluation under the Bush Administration.  Also at risk is the image of our great country.  Think of it as an iconic brand called “America,” a symbol of the place that takes in those “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” That’s as opposed to the “US,” where we’re talking about putting up a fence to keep people out.  “America” symbolizes opportunity and fairness.  The “US” is about CEO bonuses and corrupt HMOs.  In “America” we all get together for a barn raising and we take up collections to help the family whose home burned down.  The “US” shirks its foreign aid commitments and thinks sharing is socialism.

How and when did this happen?  I’m not entirely sure, but I think it started sometime around the day when Ronald Reagan announced that ketchup would be considered a vegetable in the school lunch program.  Things went downhill from there. 

Here’s what I do know.  The Bush gang has mismanaged our country and our brand and now it’s time to for us to step up and take responsibility for our actions and our reputation.  We’ve got a lot of work ahead to repair relationships and revive those symbols, words and deeds that communicate what America – and all of us – are really about.  I’m not one to wish time away, but in this case January 20 can’t come soon enough.

-- Bonnie