Derid and Slinger, my short message on traveling to appreciate America never said, like you're implying, that I think the US is perfect and we should just let our government push us around because, hey, "it could be worse".

When someone says something like "go travel some", and im sure you're tired of hearing it, they're saying it because they know that once you return from your travels you wont sit around allowing bad things to happen just because you've seen first hand that things could be worse... but rather you've expanded your reasoning and learned that some things are trivial and you learn which things are actually worth crying about.

For example, a kid who's grown up in a middle class home all his life in the suburbs and has always had hot showers in the morning might get all huffy and puffy and cry "bad government!" when all of a sudden they're living in an apt and the heat is turned off for a day. They give that sort of minor thing the same amount or more of their attention as they give to reports of a crack house down the street or low SAT scores in their state.

In the end traveling doesn't make you complacent with the US government but rather helps you to focus your energy on issues that really matter so that you can help change them...

Lets start with education and how the US is falling behind, especially in science/engineering.

"It's not enough to win... others have to lose."
-Stephen Colbert 'Colbert Report'
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