School Essay-USA not the Best

Melyssa Kennedy


            So many people refer to the United States of America as the greatest country in the world. Who are the ones saying that? That's right, mainly Americans themselves. They think that the rights to free speech, start a business, and bear arms are the liberating reasons for making USA the best. But there are many underlying reasons to dispute that claim outright. There are many things about the United States that make other countries far better places to live.
            The USA's consumption of non-renewable resources is staggering. Non-renewable resources are those resources that once used, cannot be remade, regrown, or replenished. They cannot be replenished because they occur naturally over thousands or even millions of years by natural processes such as heat, pressurization and decaying. Examples of these non-renewables are: coal, oil, petroleum, and natural gas-also known as fossil fuels, and nuclear power. Not to mention that when these resources are burned and used they release CO2, a major contributor to the greenhouse effect that is warming our planet. This will have dire consequences if not corrected; it may already be too late. Even if we stop all greenhouse gas emissions right now, the earth will continue to warm for at least the next 50-100 years with all the gases still present in the atmosphere. This heating of the atmosphere will result in the complete melting of polar ice caps. This, in turn, will flood coastal areas of the world. Even a rise in 5 feet will flood much of coastal New York. Melting permafrost releases immense quantities of methane, another major greenhouse gas. This all will lead to mass extinctions of flora and fauna. Yet we continue to use these non-renewables every single day to a great extent. Oil is the main resource we use. We use about 20,730,000 barrels of oil per day and export about 1,048,000 barrels of the 8,300,000 barrels total we produce. That means we have to import about 13,478,000 barrels a day. That is nearly 2 times more than the next highest consumer of oil (China) uses, at 6,534,000 barrels per day. All that oil we import is very expensive. The price to "fill up the tank" is higher than it ever was in the past, though it is slowly going down. Also, not enough people are trying to switch to alternative power and renewable resources such as wind, hydropower, and fuels from alcohol derived from vegetables like corn, sugarcane, and switchgrass. This will eventually deplete and consume all the oil in the world and what will we use then?
            America also is a major producer of garbage due to our consumption. The average American produces 4 pounds of garbage every single day, which is approximately 1,460 pounds of garbage each year. That is 200 million tons of garbage a day produced by all Americans. We need a place to put all that trash. That place is in landfills. 3,091 landfills are now active and there are 10,000 old municipal landfills in the USA, according to the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. As the vast quantities of garbage degrade, they produce toxic chemicals and fumes. The landfills containing this decaying trash can leak leachate, which is a contaminant solution containing toxic substances resulting from leaching through soil. This is extremely hazardous. To add to that danger, these landfills are usually located near a body of water. This makes leakage detection and remediation entirely difficult. The contaminants leak into the water, which in turn can kill animals. Not just marine animals are affected, but it can harmful to the animals that may bathe or drink from those waters. This damages ecosystems and downsizes animal populations. This does not bode well for the future of those animals, nor for us.
            Childhood obesity is a serious concern to the youth of this country, as they are the future and are next in line to take over running the USA. But how can they do that if they suffer health issues or death stemming from obesity as a child? Such detrimental consequences as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis, dislipidemia, coronary heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease, and some cancers can all occur from obesity, and carry an even greater chance of likelihood in childhood obesity. Between 5 and 25% of children and teenagers in our country are considered obese, defined as having excessive amounts of body fat. The chances of an obese child becoming an obese adult are not absolute, but are likely. Obesity can be influenced genetically, as a baby born of an obese mother is generally less active and gains more fat than in the first 6 months of life than an infant born of a non-obese mother. But one of the main causes of childhood obesity is an imbalance of energy input (the calories taken in by eating and drinking foods and beverages) and energy output (physical activity and activeness). Children today spend hours in front of the television--either watching shows or playing video games--where they have a tendency to down high-calorie snacks and soda when they could be playing outside burning off calories that counteract fat buildup. Not every parent is careful with what they feed their children. This obesity dilemma could more or less be solved if parents took the time to monitor and adjust the diets of their children and encourage them to go outside often and exercise.
            Another concern is obesity in general. Many, but not all, families order out once or more times a week or go to a fast food restaurant. Most of the foods in these places are very high in calories and trans fat, both of which are terrible in excess and promote fat gain. This can certainly lead to morbid obesity, clinicalized as being 100 lbs. over the ideal body weight for a respective height, or having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher. It is estimated that 5-10 million of the 97 million obese Americans are considered morbidly obese. Even more serious are the health risks that accompany this "health condition". These include 5-7 times greater risk of death due to diabetes or heart attack, a high risk of what is called "end-stage" (untreatable obesity), and many psychological, social, and economic problems. These are all very real concerns that can put people in the hospital and rack up medical bills, especially if these sufferers have no health coverage.
            America certainly does not have the best healthcare system, as not everyone can "afford" coverage. You actually have to buy health insurance in this country and your occupation determines just what plans you are eligible for and what benefits you can get. What about people that don't make much money or have lost their jobs? Canada has a much better healthcare system than the USA does. Starting in 1962, Canada has had a government-funded, national healthcare system which is based on the five principles of the Canada Health Act. These principles are it's: comprehensive in the services it covers, publicly administered, portable in and out of Canada, universally available to permanent residents, and accessible without income barriers. The last one sounds particularly alluring. The only drawback is Canadians have to pay a premium each year based on their annual income. But at least that could save them thousands if they had to be hospitalized.
            Our healthcare system is definitely faulty. I had a kidney stone last November and was rushed to the hospital. At the time, they did not know for certain that it was a kidney stone. They are incredibly painful. I was administered painkillers and a number of tests were run to discover what was ailing me, including an MRI, two ultrasounds, as well as a few other tests. I also stayed overnight in the hospital The total bill was roughly around $25,000 because I did not have any health insurance. I was even unknowingly charged 15 dollars for an Ambien. I had to go back to the hospital again the day after Thanksgiving, which added to the bill. I was able to make some phone calls to get some quick coverage and was left with a balance of $2,500. That's not nearly as bad as $25,000, but still I will be paying it off for quite a while. Since I was on no plan that I had previously been paying for, the money came right from all the taxes we all pay, which is not fair. Adding to that, I was dropped from the plan once I turned 21, because at 21 you are considered an adult in the USA. So now I once again I have no health coverage. I know I am not the only one in this predicament in the country.
            Everyone that lives in the USA says we have so many freedoms, which is true. We enjoy freedoms such as of speech and press, the right to bear arms, and "innocent until proven guilty", which not all countries have. But these are certainly not unlimited freedoms. You may have the right to carry a weapon, but you can't just carry it anywhere, and you have to be registered to carry it. That does not stop criminals from harboring weapons, though. And you can not say certain words or talk about or show certain things on television (or in writing), which is called censorship. The USA is one of the strictest countries in censorship. Everyone also thinks that those convicted of crimes are innocent until proven guilty. Well, that may be by true law, but usually not by peoples' moral thinking. Most Americans think all are guilty until proven innocent; innocent people even end up going to jail-some for many, many years until their innocence can be proven, if it even ever is. This proves our government is far from perfect.
Our government is a real issue now. We have been told we all have equal rights, but that is just not so. Take the gays for example. Gays are only allowed to get married in two US states, Massachusetts and California. How is that fair to two people that have just as much love for each other as do a heterosexual couple? It's not and is a prime example of unequal rights. People are much more open-minded nowadays than in the past. That is a sign of a maturing country. The president, George Bush, is totally against gay marriage rights. He is not the smartest president, and his view on gay marriage is not the reason I say this.  I am speaking of his "trillion dollar mistake". He sent troops into Iraq with faulty intelligence that said there were weapons of mass destruction there and there weren't. He keeps throwing resources and soldiers at this war in Iraq when we still have problems on our own land to deal with.
            Hurricane Katrina was a complete ands utter disaster in August 2005. It grew from a category 3 to a category 5 hurricane in a matter of 9 hours. Katrina was responsible for at least $125 billion dollars in economic damage and $81.2 billion in property damage, making it the costliest storm in US history. The final death toll was 1,464. Katrina was the sixth largest hurricane ever to hit in the Atlantic Ocean. The levees on the coast were not reinforced and up to par to hold that much water back and 53 levees were breached and water flooded the entire city of New Orleans in many feet of water. Houses were buried and pets were left behind. The response to evacuate people was slow. People also were looting stores and stealing from each other in the heat of the predicament. That just made everything worse. It would have been better if they had remained calm, but that would have been very difficult seeing as how food and aid could not be rushed to them quickly enough.
            America may have many faults, but it is still a good place to live. We have a population of 305, 648,800 and it goes up every minute. There are people that move here from all over the world for the promise of a better life, job and freedom. There just have to be some major changes in the country to make it the greatest country in the world.