Saturday, June 13, 2009

Leader of the Free World

You know what seriously pisses me off? When americans refer to their president as "the leader of the free world". This is something I've heard from all kinds of people; republican, democrat, libertarian. However, they all have something in common--they are Americans. Only Americans refer to their president as the leader of the free world. I haven't heard anyone else, anywhere else on the planet use this term. So, what is the free world anyways? Countries that hold elections every 'n' number of years? Countries that have freedom of speech? Of course, Americans consider themselves to be "free", but according to my definition of "free world", I'd also add most of Latin America, most of Europe, some parts of Africa, and a big chunk of Asia. Who voted America as "our leader"? No one did. This is just a title that Americans like to place on themselves. If you analize it, Americans calling themselves the "leaders of the free world" shows an arrogant attitude towards the rest of the democratic countries. I bet most Americans even think that the idea of freedom and liberty originated in America. They're probably clueless as to what the enlightenment was. So, since I live in a country that is obviously part of this "free world", I take offense when Americans assume that their president is our leader. Why not my president? Or the prime minister of Canada? Or the president of France, Spain or Russia?

Americans, get off your high horse. The world does not revolve around you.