A Plea to the Presidential Candidates

Both John McCain and Barack Obama must discontinue their nationalistic views immediately. John McCain’s assertion that Americans are the best workers in the world is false and even dangerous. Considered most simply, what factual evidence does he have to base this statement upon? Is it actually true that America contains the best workers? McCain would have benefited from simply stating that American’s are hard working individuals. No one can or should deny this. Furthermore, he would still sound patriotic, and patriotism seems to be his overall message. The problem with stating that Americans are the best workers is that it breeds unnecessary favoritism. Our society becomes increasingly global with each passing day, blurring the lines between Americans and other human beings. Therefore, we should be breeding good relations between America and other countries by asserting that all human beings are capable of being great workers. Moreover, the coffee farmer who receives disproportionably low wages works much harder than the average America worker, simply in dealing with degradable conditions—not to mention the Asian sweatshop employee. By stating that Americans are the best workers, the candidates are asserting that America is one of the best—if not the best—country in the world. Can we say this with a straight face while simultaneously acknowledging the dependence America has on the world market? It is worth noting that Barack Obama, the apparent liberal in the campaign, has maintained this same notion, even if less often than McCain. To better our relations in the world, it seems necessary to begin treating all human beings in the manner we try (and often fail) to treat Americans. This discussion is obviously blurred when one realizes that all Americans are not treated equally. Human beings are human beings, plain and simple. For the love of your apparent God, please start thinking this way.