We are shameful Americans.

America has always had something rotten at it's core. Right from the beginning. Ever since the founding of the USA in the 18th century. Slavery, for instance. Inequality. We Americans had a civil war, and we theoretically eliminated slavery. But we have never rid ourselves of inequality. We are still denying people their basic civil and human rights. Of course, America has always taken a holier-than-thou attitude. Patting ourselves on the back. Claiming to be good. Claiming to be the best and greatest nation on Mother Earth. If we are the best, god help us all. Because in some ways, we are pitiful. Just look at our state of politic. It's gawdawful. Our politicians cater to the rich. We've created a privileged elite. A plutocracy. A dictatorship of the monetarily rich. Of millionaires and billionaires and bankers. Money manipulators. Greed permeates our economic system. That's the way I see it. At our core, we are an evil nation. Always have been. That doesn't mean America is totally bad. There are strains of well-intentioned goodness. Reasons to be braggarts. Which causes us to overlook and ignore our badness. Our basic immorality. Our corruptness. Thing is, there's always something wrong with America. Always will be. Maybe that's the nature of the human condition. Our inability to recognize how bad we really are. Therefore, we'll always be bad at the core. Deep down. We Americans will continue to utter our high-minded platitudes. Pretending. Pretending. Pretending to be something we aren't. Unfortunately, we'll remain hypocrites. Not practicing what we preach. We'll be proud Americans. When really, we are shameful. --Jim Broede