Maybe what we have lost in America is pride. Maybe the biggest challenge we face going forward is taking pride in who we are as a nation and who we are as people. We are fed a steady diet of America is bad because there is racism, sexism, income inequality, xenophobia, misogynists and America is something you should apologize for and be ashamed of. That is the message from one activist group after another these days. If you believe what is regurgitated in print, on television and on radio America is an unfair place that has been built on the backs of millions of exploited people who have been screwed at every turn.

After awhile of getting these negative messages pounded down their throats day after day it appears some of us may just surrender to the onslaught of darkness. Others just accept what they are told on the Internet and they mindlessly repeat those same ugly themes in an echo chamber of anti-American garbage. Activists take aim at anyone that appears to have more anything than they do. Everybody is a victim it seems.

The problem is that it just isn’t true.

The reason I am focused on the idea that many of us have lost our pride is the pitiful state of our state. I drove to Saline last night to say goodbye to an old friend. I wove my way along US 12 and US 127. What struck me was the overwhelming amount of absolute filth. There is so much garbage along our roads here in Michigan that I began to wonder if I was actually in Ohio; seriously. I mean come on people this is deeply disturbing and totally unacceptable. It was like driving through after a tornado had come through. At first I thought it was just going to be a small area but then as I went on mile after mile I realized we are actually all living in a pigsty. After what I looked at last night it makes me think I should apologize to the pigs.

Where is our pride? Why are the roadsides all over Michigan covered with plastic pop bottles, beer bottles, whiskey bottles, grocery bags, car parts, fast food wrappers of every description, road kill every 50 feet, tires, cans, junk bicycles, tin cans, beer cans and trash cans?

When did everyone decide they would no longer clean up after themselves? I remember the old saying, “your mom’s not here so pick up after yourself.” Trust me my mom would drop the dime on you pigs. It is time to show some pride and take back our streets. Listen to me; don’t walk down the street or drive by in the car anymore as the piles of trash flutter in the wind.

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How do we tell our kids about how great America is when they ride by the school bus looking at landfills gone wild? I am just very disappointed at the way we are leaving things for everybody else to clean up. I think this attitude is extending to our government as well. I mean these people in Washington are closing in on a budget that will fail to fulfill their promises, lots and lots of promises to the voters. This is another giant mess being left behind for others to clean up. They will say anything to get elected and will make promises they know they will never keep and just like the garbage all over the roads and playgrounds and parks they will just leave it for everyone else.

We need to get our pride back because I am sick and tired of living in a pigsty. How about you?