Brandon Kosal 

I’m not sure if this problem is uniquely American, but I’ve never understood this country’s obsession with claiming to be No. 1.  From “God Bless America” (I had no idea God was an American nationalist) to “America is the greatest country in the world,” Americans love to stake their claim atop the country leader board. 

What makes this claim so absurd is that there is no rating system for countries. Any claim of country superiority is without merit. By what set of standards do we judge ourselves as the greatest? Is it by how we treat each other? Or how we treat other countries and their citizens? Using those criteria, anyone with a global outlook could certainly make the argument that we have yet to become a great country, let alone the greatest. 

Take the Iraq war for example, which was sold to us with one main purpose: to protect America from another Sept. 11-like terrorist attack. A recent report by the Human Rights Ministry found that over 85,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of our occupation of their country. What type of message does it send to the rest of the world when we say that it is worth the lives of over 85,000 non-Americans to protect American interests? 

You can also tell a lot about a country by checking its spending habits. To wit, a report by globalissues.org shows that in 2008 the United States was responsible for 41.5 percent of global military expenditures. To put this in perspective, the next 14 countries combine for just under 40 percent of the world total. That is an astonishing statistic, especially when our success overseas in recent years has been suspect at best. 

Our dedication to military spending is merely curious until you consider how little we spend on foreign aid and assistance. A report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development finds that, in 2008, of the 22 eligible countries, the United States was tied for last in developmental assistance as a percentage of gross national income.   

Our military spending is enough for 14 countries, but when it comes to foreign aid, we’re tied for last. That doesn’t reflect very well on America.

What about the way we treat our own citizens? 

Look no further than the health care debate. Have you heard much of a debate on health care? The media has been flooded with shouting matches and uninformed insults being hurled back and forth between both sides. The debate has become less about those who need help and more about those who crave attention.

President Obama has said he wants to help the millions of Americans with no health insurance. For that, he’s labeled a socialist and compared to Hitler. With rumored estimates ranging from 30 to 50 million uninsured, Americans and 45,000 dying each year because they don’t have health insurance, according to physorg.com, it’s clear we have a health care problem in this country. Despite all of that, a recent USA Today/Gallup poll finds that 33 percent of Americans will oppose a health care reform bill, regardless of its contents. 

Let’s also not forget the ugly history our country has: slavery, two nuclear bombs, Japanese internment camps, and countless wars that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians. We shouldn’t dwell on the past to pity ourselves, but to look for guidance to fix our current problems, including a court system that is slanted in favor of those with power, homosexuals being treated as second-class citizens, and racism and sexism remaining a problem, despite an ABC News/Washington Post poll that finds an overwhelming majority of Americans consider it to no longer be a huge issue. 

Still, the “we are No.1” mentality persists. 

This false sense of inflated self-worth is dangerous.  Our ethnocentric methodology and rogue tendencies have shamed us with a reputation of being an arrogant, greedy nation that barely cares for its own citizens, let alone the rest of the world. 

I’ll be the first to say that there are many great things about this country, but we must avoid the pitfall of judging our country relative to other nations. Are we a great nation compared to others that have nightly beheadings or death squads that shoot innocent civilians? Of course. Does that also mean that, judged independently, we are a great nation? That’s at least debatable. 

Keep in mind that the majority of Americans did nothing to earn their citizenship. The genetic lottery placed us within a set of borders, and in between those borders happened to be a place called America. Our responsibilities as human beings shouldn’t be trumped by some imaginary sense of American authority over the rest of the world. 

Just like American lives are no more valuable than any others, America should not automatically be considered greater than other nations. A reputation of being the best, or even great, is earned, not granted or inherited. Assuming a position of superiority is a step in the wrong direction. We owe it to ourselves and to the rest of the world to take a few steps back and start looking at things not from the perspective of an American, but a human being. Those two labels apply to everyone in this country. Let’s start acting like it.