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The United States of America has held itself to a high moral standard of freedom and self-government ever since its independence from the British Crown. But despite the many rights and freedoms, many of today's youth are suffering due to politics, special interest, and unions that care more about their salary than their jobs.

The freedom of speech is the number one right that is commonly used when people are asked to write a clich� "I love America" paper. Not only is it the most used, but it is also the most misunderstood. It only means that the government can't silence you, but private business, entertainment venues, and the corporate sector have all right to keep your opinions silent. On top of this, if you are under eighteen you have little say in anything at all. Youth can't vote, but politicians feel the need to pass multitudes of restrictions upon the youth of America based upon the stereotype created by a minute minority. This is why I love America.

Nothing reinforces the corrupt treatment of America's youth more than the educational system. High school encourages youth to act like mature responsible adults, yet treats them like young, incompetent brats. In a system that preaches the golden rule, it is ironic that they would complain about the behavior of students when they treat them as kindergarteners. But when a system refuses to correct a student because it might hurt their self-esteem it is destined to fail. This is why I love America.

Worse than the fact that it is failing, is education's concerted socialistic stance that is nearly a contradiction of American values. More time and money is spent making sure that the lower bracket is never far from the intellectual top end. It even goes as far as a refusal to separate the smart from the education-deficient because it might hurt the education-deficients' self-esteem. Thus, while no child is left behind, no child is allowed to excel. And even society looks down upon the intellectual top end, labeling them as "geeks"� and "nerds."� Media stereotypes only help to reinforce this and misrepresent intelligence. This creates an overwhelming pressure on students to underachieve in order to save face with their "peers," as defined by the politicians in their ivory towers. This is why I love America.

The icing on the cake is the hushed fact that school, despite its Euro and Americentric teachings, is a fascist governed body. In order to keep students in line the established autocracy threatens them with detentions, "F's" and various other forms of punishment. And, should a student wish to speak out against a teacher, he/she is not widely accepted by the administration that should look into the matter. It is bad enough that teachers' unions have become greedy, political organizations, but now students have no voice against bad teachers. It's almost as if teachers have become infallible demi-gods that are allowed to rule over their subjects. Should a teacher wish to give an assignment that students feel is worthless, of no educational value, or contains aspects that have no merit (such as drawing pretty pictures for an English essay), they are most commonly met with a "too bad, do it or you get an "F" reply from the teacher. This is why I love America.

The second thing I love most is that an American does not have the right not to be offended. This means that if somebody gets offended they must whine, complain, carry on, and cause chaos until they get their way. And sadly enough, politics has taken a huge lead in creating this problem; for instance, saying that we must call Indians "Native Americans." After all, it is much less offensive to be named after the people who took your land, killed your people, and forced you to march across the country to reservations. This is why I love America.

Worse yet are people who disagree with somebody's opinion. These are the kind of people that have to destroy another person's character simply because they don't like the message they send. These are the kind of people that deface public property because they aren't getting their way. These are the kind of people who make up lies, and slander others just because their minority opinion isn't the one being accepted. These are the kind of people that have to riot outside a convention, or harass electorates as they're having breakfast. These are the kind of people who have to throw out all common logic and thought in order to send messages of hate against their opponents. And sadly, this is where the American political process has brought us. This is why I love America.

As for democracy and America's youth, what great affect does it have when they aren't allowed to take part? Sure, they can write to their senators, representatives and even the president. But if you can't vote, you don't matter. The best proof of this is when they send you a little care package about your rights, how the government works, and how a bill becomes a law. This is why I love America.

As for the politicians, they're more focused on regulating America's youth. They've decided that music with swear words and violence is bad for us, and thus try to ban it because it apparently makes young kids violent (despite sufficient proof to the contrary). They are also trying to ban violent video games, despite a direct statement from the Surgeon General of the United States that video games do not cause kids to be violent, and in fact, the court has thrown out every case on this. This is why I love America.

Communism, created by Marx, is a political theory in which the government controls the economic sector in order to ensure that no one person is better than another. However, its main downfall resides in the fact that there is no benefit for a person to work hard, because they are still treated the same as somebody who doesn't put forth any effort. Communism also defies the concept of human nature in which one tries to be better than another being in order to achieve the primal state of alpha male. However, the distinction between communist ideology and communist leadership is almost never made. This is why I love America.

The biggest fault lies in the Western perception that communism is evil and wrong. Communism is only a political theory. The problem exists in communist nations' corrupt governments and party politics. Joseph Stalin is a prime example of a corrupt communist leader. In fact, many communist leaders do not even believe in the communist manifesto. But since we are guided by a very Eurocentric view on history, this point is nearly never brought up. This is why I love America.

Despite its leaders' best efforts, America still has many good points. The problem is that in most civilized nations you can still enjoy the same freedoms. I can go to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or England and still enjoy the freedoms I enjoy here. But they have their own problems just as America does. I have a hard time spurting the "I love America"� rhetoric when I find myself upset with how things such as education and politics are being run every day. This is why I love America.