I Don't like Any of You - Short Story

America is in trouble. Our country, our culture, our people, and our way of life is in jeopardy, not only because we are in debt, or because the mortgage market fell apart, or that inflation is strangling the middle and lower classes, but because Americans as a majority are lazy. Many of us will disagree with the idea that Americans are lazy, and claim how we work our tails off six days-a-week, for eight to ten hours-a-day, but how many Americans do you know that would work eighteen hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, barefoot in a pineapple field, for four dollars a day? Not many, if any at all. There is something missing in this country, which has made us lose credibility with the rest of the world. It is our lack of, or our avoidance of, accountability and responsibility. This is made very clear by a short essay titled "I Don't Like Any of You" given to me by my English professor in college. Because he had to tell the class it was our responsibility to be on time, get the work done, and even show up for class without excuses, it was a stark reminder of how lazy we have become, not only physically, but mentally as well.

Try to think of another country that has the access to education like we do, but treats the opportunity to excel with as little enthusiasm. There is none. This country was built on the idea of a "more perfect union", an unobtainable goal we set for ourselves so we don't forget how to move forward, and yet we are stuck in a society where it is necessary for our teachers to put, what is referred to in "I Don't Like Any of You" as a hypothetical gun to our heads, in order for us to do what is asked of us. We weren't thrown in this classroom against our will and told to write sentences and essays because we did something wrong, we are here because we asked to be here; we paid to be here! We have become so comfortable in our digital worlds, where the television and iPods are king, that we would rather plug-in and tune-out than take responsibility and be held accountable for our actions.

School is a privilege it is not a right. Although many people may consider it paramount to a jail sentence, it is your ticket to success, a necessary road to achieving our goals in life. Instead of considering ourselves lucky to have the access to education that we do, many of us whine and moan at the mere thought having to do any extra work to achieve what we strive for. We have become complacent as a society. Many of us would prefer to have the teacher that is easy going, sensitive to our feelings, and lets us out of class early, rather than have the teacher who challenges us, and holds us accountable for the responsibilities we have opted to take on. We avoid the teacher who challenges us, because if we are held accountable for our actions, we may fail and people fear failure, so by choosing the easy teacher we avoid failure the best way we know how. Easy is not the