i am an american and i have a big ego – especially when talking about the rest of the world
all americans are taught when growing up that we are the best in the world, the leaders of the world, etc
we see what is going on and we say – yeah, we are at the top – we run things – we have the strongest military – we can kick anyone’s ass
for the most part – this is quite true – it is our time at the top – we can keep the rest of the world in line
but the problem is the ego thing – when we think all of these things – we get a big head – we disregard everyone else, we walk around in a loud way – and the rest of the world laughs at us behind our backs – they treat us poorly when we visit – but they put up with us because we have the $$ to spend, etc
and i have thought in this way too – until i bought this map and put it on my wall – see at bottom of post
this map shows a visual history of the world from 3000 bc to today
and what you quickly realize is how new the USA is compared to all the civilizations and empires before us
look way down at the bottom right – the purple area – that’s us – the time the USA has been around – then look at all the other colors and how long they have been around
for example – here is when these modern countries got organized-
Ireland – 750 AD
Sweden – 1000 AD
France – 500 AD
England – 700 AD
Italy – 1050 AD
Spain – 800 AD
And of course USA is 1776 AD
So what this tells me is when I meet people from these other countries or when i visit these other countries – i need to respect them more
they were here way before us and we just seem to brush that over with our ego of here and now
it’s ok to have the american ego – it helps us achieve great things – but let’s also think about the histories of these other countries and give them respect
