Five Ways to Rebuild Our National Image

Of late the United States has taken on a image that does not become her, nor does it seem to connect with her history. Americans used to be proud of a national image that was built not just on national wealth and power but also on concern for human rights and individual dignity of all people More and more around the world we are seen today as aggressors, uncaring capitalists, greedy hypocrites and a nation out of touch with the needs of the rest of humanity. In various parts of the world we are seen as the cause of many of the world's ills like the war in Iraq, the imbalance in the distribution of the worlds resources, the existence of poverty and its accompanying horrors, the development of global warming, the decline in world peace and prosperity. Whether these accusations are 100% accurate or not the United States currently is not viewed as the beacon of liberty and peace it once was. The United States need not continue down the road that has so damaged our international respect . America can regain its former stature by taking up these five ways to rebuild our national image.
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1. Recall our American History and take pride in it. Before Americans can expect any other nations to look towards us as world leaders worth listening to, we have to begin to rebuild our own self image. We sing " America the Beautiful" and we wave the flag at appropriate patriotic moments, but many of us have forgotten what American patriotism is all about. We started out as a fledgling nation boasting that all men have the same unalienable right to life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We fought the Civil War so that people of all racial heritage might be included in that claim. We fought World War II to make sure that Europeans could have those rights rather than suffer at the hands of the Third Reich.