What America Means to Me
America means safety, opportunity, democracy and equality. These ideals are an everyday part of life and they are what America means to me.
One of the best things about being an American is feeling safe. There are many other countries with a democratic form of government but they aren't America. Here you can get in heated discussion with your neighbor over political issues or candidates and you almost never hear about any violence erupting from these discussions. The peaceful transfer of power in the United States is incredibly unusual in the world we live in. In 2000 hundreds of people were injured during riots after the French presidential election and in that same year Italians rioted after the Prime Minister received a vote of no-confidence. The peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next, from one politician to the next, is an important characteristic of American democracy that I value here in the United States. It makes me feel safe.
Even when times are tough American’s look for opportunities to work and support themselves. During the Great Depression many people were out of work in America but they got through it by being tough. Immigrants came to this country with nothing, they worked every day to achieve the American dream. Men and women who start out in the mail room have the opportunity to own the corporation in the future. It isn't like this everywhere. In India if you were born to a certain cast as hard as you work, as hard as you toil, you will never reach a higher level in that country. America makes opportunities available to all.
Democracy and equality sometimes go hand in hand. The election of the first black president Barack Obama proves that the America believes in equality and democracy for all people.
The United States laid out their ideals in the Declaration of Independence. America has lived up to these ideals. The men who wrote it should be proud of the nation they built. America means safety, opportunity, democracy and equality to me.