By Abi Smith
As of last Tuesday, the U.S. population reached 300 million. But, instead of balloons and streamers, the day was largely met with varying degrees of ambivalence.
In the days leading up to the event, for instance, television and print commentators were doggedly using the words “worried” and “concerned” to describe how Americans felt about our ever-expanding country.
Illegal immigration topped the list of those commentators’ perceived threats, of course. And many others lamented the strain on our resources.
But aside from those trapped in poverty, is the nation-at-large really on the verge of collapse?
Tom van Riper of Forbes.com summed up the average American in 2006, citing an annual income 32 percent higher than it was in the 1960s when adjusted for inflation, and 13 percent more than during the 1985 economic boom.
“And thanks to ballooning real-estate values, average household net worth has increased even faster,” said van Riper. “The typical American household has a net worth of $465,970, up 83 percent from 1965, 60 percent from 1985 and 35 percent from 1995.”
In addition, van Riper noted that the “medians” also have “eight percent more purchasing power than they did 20 years ago and 5.7 percent more than they had just 10 years ago.”
The television and Internet news source, MSNBC, reports that Americans spent $1.4 billion last year on tooth-whitening, so excuse the orphaned child in Zimbabwe for not being “worried” and “concerned” about us too.
But it would be wrong to argue that a changing country is devoid of challenges. What we should remember, however, is that we, as a whole, have more than enough resolve to meet them.
For such a young country, we have almost always been boldly defiant. In the past, this has been bad; we enslaved other human beings for profit, all a smack in the very face of God.
But that defiance has also been used in stellar and compelling fashion. From the Civil Rights pioneers who demanded liberation, to the soldiers who died following 9/11, we’ve certainly been shaken and stirred. But the core of the American spirit, clichéd as it may sound, has managed to survive it all.
As such, our country has to get beyond the notion that it’s made of sand. We’ve kicked and been kicked, but a few extra zeroes behind our population count surely won’t blow us away. A goal for all of us, though, is to learn to treat those who comprise that population, new and old, with basic decency. As civilized people, this shouldn’t be too hard.
And most importantly, we must understand that commitment to a country, as with anything else, means sacrifice. We’re going to struggle to stay balanced, and we may even lose some battles; we won’t always have it easy. And in trying to solve troubles, despite our best efforts, we will certainly be driven to distraction
We hear so much about sucking-it-up. It may now be time to actually do so.
Abi Smith is a graduatae student in the School of Urban and Public Affairs. E-mail her at opinion@louisvillecardinal.com.
