Our “American” Society

“The Changing Demographics of America” by Joel Kotkin, highlights that the United States’ population is tremendously growing and within the next 40 years, it’ll expand by 100 million. This was highlighted because it may actually be a problem because the children of baby boomers are beginning to have children of their own, leading to a “baby boomlet.” I believe that the problem is not in the United States’ population growing, but the society that the US abides by. If it was not for the value that our society puts on a dollar, then I assume, a growing population wouldn’t be harmful, but helpful. However, since our society is the way it is, I feel that rather than changing what will be more beneficial, our society will try to limit the number of children an individual desires to have. I see this as an issue because our society will try to control as much as possible and to take it this far is absurd. In actuality, our population will never be steady, unless every person that is born, another dies; however, if the number of deaths are greater than the number of births then that is also an issue that our society does not and cannot control.

"What Does ‘American’ Actually Mean?” by Katrina Martinez-Carter, exposes the improper way the word, “America” is used. Typically (at least in the United States), an American is someone who is a citizen of the United States; however, is it really? America is a region, not a country, and from personal experience and the story Martinez-Carter shared in her article, it is evident that individuals from the United States will say that they are from America, but that incorrect. The proper answer would be the United States, because replying with “America” does not specify what country you live in, but the region you are from. This article has allowed me to open my eyes because this has been a mistake I have made. Not only this, but it brings out how selfish our country is. For instance, why is it that in the United States we say “I am from America,” yet Canadians are from Canada? Everyone in America replies with the country they are from, except those who are from the US. Rather than singling ourselves out, we take on the whole region, disregarding every other country in America. This is what reveals our country’s selfishness.