Have you travelled the world extensively or have you read the letters of American soldiers that have watched their comrades be blown up while trying to show compassion to children in wartime. I generally am an inclusive individual and I try to like people until they prove they can't be trusted. Here is the thing though I have traveled extensively because of my job and my personal preferences. Did myself and co-workers do anything to provoke middle eastern men to urinate in containers and along the ground and then throw this at us? No, we were very respectful of customs and took classes prior to going to insure we knew them. Were they upset merely that we were American. Yes, because that was their threatening comments to our "guards/escorts." Did the soldiers in the European country not long ago, do anything to deserve being shot and killed merely because he was in his uniform? Now I could lump all these things together and say, "wow, all these people hate me because I'm American" but then I would be like all the rest and not see the big picture. There are most certainly persons that hate all Americans and would never give us a chance but most of us really do appreciate the freedoms we have and when we have to leave our country we want to come home. Those that do not appreciate our country as it is could take steps to help improve it... Start by volunteering in your community, run for a political office, go out and vote, or maybe find a combat soldier and sit and listen to him/her tell you what he did for your right to criticize HIS/HER country, but if all we do is sit at home in our butt nothing will change.
