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The First Step to Solving a Problem Is Recognizing There Is One

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America is not the greatest country in the world. That’s my answer.

But you — you are without a doubt a member of the worst generation of all time.

And you’re asking me why our country is great? You’re actually asking the reason—

I have absolutely no idea what the hell you’re talking about.


We used to be great.

We stood up for what was right.

We fought for moral reasons.

We passed and struck down laws for moral reasons.

We waged wars on poverty, not on poor people.

We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors.

We put our money where our mouths were for our beliefs,

and we never beat our chest about any of it.

We built great things.

Made ungodly technological advances,

explored the universe, cured diseases,

cultivated the world’s greatest artists,

and the world&rsquo>s greatest economy.

We reached for the stars.

We acted like men.

We aspired to intelligence — we didn’t belittle it,

it didn’t make us feel inferior.


We didn’t identify ourselves

by who we voted for in the last election.

We didn’t scare so easy.


We could be all these things and do all these things because we were informed.

By great men, by men who were revered.

The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one.

“America is no longer the greatest country in the world.”



Source: from the U.S. drama “The Newsroom”


This English version was translated by Claude.

친절한 찰쓰씨
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친절한 찰쓰씨

Pleasant Charles — UI/UX researcher at AIT. Keeping notes on design, planning, and slow days here since 2010.

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