COME & SEE AMERICA

MY BROOKLYN FROM ITS BRIDGE

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THE AMERICAN QUESTION

A FUTURE FOR AMERICA.

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ould American dream and American values survive terrorism threat in these globalization times?

It is the first time in its history  that America , a country whose inhabitants still long for happiness has so many concerns . The main one evolves around the future.

It is  not because   this future appears cloudy and uncertain. What matters consists of how to envision a reassuring future when at the same time threats hamper the American tomorrows.

These threats occur by the time the almost obsolete concept of the planet village is coming to light. We used to picture this closeness as primitive people and wealthy end up meeting peacefully as if they were racing in some marathon and exchanging olive leaf in the name of friendship and reconciliation. Instead, the wake up to a new world has been launched in violence and killings when the less expected in this morning of the  11 September , 2001.

Since then the world has changed.

America which had paid  the utmost price has been the spearhead  of technology, freedom and an appealing way of life. It used to greet every one committed to the fabled pursuit of happiness that the limitless American dream defines. How can unknown miscreants dare to question this so far mythical dream in a repulsive way of mass killings on behalf of presumed evil gods?

From then and to speak the truth, America has become a very new country, but, this new country is not only afraid of others, it also is afraid of itself. A fear that can erode its values  and its proverbial generosity. The September 11 legacy still spreads worldwide fear and terror. 

Paradoxically, while having their border fallen apart, thanks to the internet revolution, and skype phone system, countries don’t want these borders to be too porous. A wall fence has been built across the Rio Grande. A way to protect itself from the South. Besides, America, even before September 11, used to deal with other concerns. Old questions, old times, maybe. But, to shadow w. Faulkner,  in this future-oriented country, past is not really past. It can even be added that past relics are challenging the future. While worrying about the coming years, America faces a new test of racial tolerance as well as religious one. Will color and race matter anew? That’s what American people is expected to prove. It would be a test of maturity and how much strong is the American democracy. America would have to choose between its beliefs, its doubts and its fear.

But, by now, the main issues go well beyond America itself and its institutions. An open country more and more involved in international affairs, America, the so-called the world watchdog , was said to have answered to the Manifest Destiny. While carrying out peace, sometimes this move didn’t watch out the rising of fanatics and despair that is engulfing despised cultures and destitute areas. September 11 has reminded us a new reality and the unknown.  The world is shrinking but it is doing so by  displaying  new horizons.

This world , as we know, is now borderless. Very soon, we will attend the mix of color, races, beliefs and lifestyle. But, at the same time, this world can also show us its dark side. What the 9/11 hijackers did. They had used  the same tools which announce  the coming of a  cashless economy. How can we live by evil people that are undermining our savings and our quality of life?

That's the American question.