America

When we were kids, we grew up listening to stories of Russia versus America, and while India had Russia's support, we envied Pakistan for being supported by the mighty America. In the early 80s, as school kids, Russia meant Ivan the Terrible and witches and princesses, America meant a dying Reagan holding the dreaded Hydrogen bomb, ready to let go and destroy the world the day he died! As we grew out of the Ivans, Russia quickly became a failed state, Glasnost and Gorbachev bringing about the end of our friend. In the late 80s and early 90s, America became the land of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and Archies, and Rambo. The country that always came to the rescue of the world in the face of aliens and natural disasters.

Come 2000, though, the perception of America quickly changed from a protector of the world to the aggressor, the victimizer. From saving Kuwait, it soon came to be about an invasion of Iraq. The second invasion of Iraq, the non-existent WMDs, and even the bombing of Afghanistan and subsequent occupation came to represent the new America. Add to that the racism bubbling to the fore after Katrina, the collapse of the economy, the Enron saga...

What does America mean to you today?