Evidence of America’sAlleged Greatness

In the capital of the world’s biggest power, one can easily start doubting in its greatness, writes Mariusz Zawadzki in his feuilleton in the “American dream book” series.

Escalators in the subway break notoriously. The city authorities admit that statistically every fifth escalator does not work and technicians cannot keep up with repairs. Given their fossilized appearance, one should be happy that 80 percent of the escalators work. Perhaps if the U.S. government could do without another F-16 multi-role jet fighter aircraft, all the escalators could be replaced with new ones, but so far no one has come up with such an idea.

The condition of the pavement leaves a lot to be desired. It is, however, better than in New York, where there are even more holes than in Warsaw.

Health care in Washington is one big hoax and rip-off. How else can one explain the fact that one has to pay $1,500 for an ultrasound scan there, which costs 100 zlotys [about $315] in a private laboratory in Warsaw?

The food sold in Washington is particularly tasteless. Meat with no taste, rubber buns, flavorless tomatoes, etc. Customers are allured by such a slogan on a lemonade bottle: “Made from real lemons!” which suggests that other lemonades are produced with artificial lemons or even something else.

Politicians in Washington tend to be as ridiculous and tacky as those in Poland. Republican presidential candidates believe neither in the theory of evolution nor in the greenhouse effect, and they keep arguing whether vaccination of young women against HPV, which would save a lot of them from cervical cancer, is a violation of their civil liberties. Even the eloquent and intelligent President Obama is somewhat disappointing once you get a closer look. Like last year, when he made the accusation that Republican funds came from indefinite foreign sources, although he himself must have known that it was errant nonsense and cheap populism.

Perhaps the strangest thing is that the greatest power of all, which has military bases in the most remote corners of the world and plays the role of global policeman, is unable to make the Anacostia neighborhood in Washington DC safe. Some cab drivers refuse to take people to Anacostia because they are afraid.

A foreigner visiting Washington DC constantly stumbles upon examples of junk, rubbish and mediocrity, but, at the same time, locals try to convince him that he is very fortunate because he has found himself in the greatest country in the world. Ardent American patriotism — displaying national flags, repeating the power and uniqueness mantra, almost daily picketing in the streets with banners saying: “Support Our Troops!” — all this seems childish and ridiculous.

For a Moment at Least

Then, suddenly, it turns out that this infantile patriotism is a display of something touching and inspiring, an incredible spiritual strength of Americans — something we can only dream of in Europe. Recently, this strength occurred on Sept. 11, the 10th anniversary of the al-Qaida terrorist attacks on Washington and New York.

How do we celebrate anniversaries of tragic events of utmost importance in our history in Poland, for instance the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising or the Gdansk events of December 1970? We pay tribute to those who died. We light memorial candles. Politicians deliver speeches. Students recite patriotic texts during school assemblies. At “W-Hour” sirens wail in Warsaw and traffic stops.

A week ago, on Sept. 11, 2011, Americans did roughly the same thing. But they did even more than that: Somehow they managed to change a grim anniversary into something amazingly positive and optimistic.

According to the most optimistic estimates, 33 million Americans volunteered to do public work. Ten-thousand volunteers in Washington cleaned schools, playgrounds and fields. In Nashville, several hundred people helped finish houses for poor families. In Boston, 800 volunteers prepared care packages for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Compton, California, 500 volunteers cleaned exhibits — airplanes, engines, rockets — at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum.

Volunteers from New York went to Missouri to help remove debris left behind by the recent tornado. In one of the local towns, children painted their dreams and wishes on three thousand wooden stars (this is how many people died on Sept. 11 2001), which were then hung in the streets.

And this was not infantile at all. If the Americans who were killed on Sept. 11 could rise from their graves and look at all this, they would probably say: “Didn’t we say so? Turns out the United States is indeed great…” And it probably will stay that way for a long time, despite the slight downfall of its capital and the serious crisis, and in defiance of numerous prophets who predict the country’s imminent decline.