Your Lucky Stars

I just got back from an International Refugee Festival in downtown Minneapolis, and the presentations reminded me of two things: first and foremost, I am damned lucky to have ended up here in the U.S., and secondly, I can't stand it when privileged Americans complain about how terrible this country is and how much they wish they were living somewhere else.

The U.S. is far from perfect in a billion ways, but most of us have a very high standard of living compared to the rest of the world. So when I overhear some hipster bitching about his life in America, and how he wants to go live 'somewhere real and free,' I really wish he could hear the stories I heard today; stories about torture, starvation, untold suffering and humiliation. The pure elation of the Burmese or Libyan refugee and his family when they arrived here.

Now, if you got sent off to Vietnam and came back a shell-shocked amputee, forgotten by the government and scorned by your fellow countrymen, you can bitch. If you were living in poverty in southern Louisiana, lost what little you had to Hurricane Katrina and were shipped off to a forsaken and hopeless FEMA trailer park in the middle of nowhere, you can bitch.

I'm talking to all of the young, privileged people that 'can't stand another day in this oppressive hellhole.' Please stop and remember that you could have a much worse life here in the U.S., and an even worse life somewhere else. Every country has its problems. If you're not happy, do something about it. Otherwise, quit ripping on your home country. It's insulting to the people who have literally risked life and limb just to make it to our shores.