America likes tough guys. Theodore Roosevelt was a nerd who proved himself on the battlefield by doing the impossible with the rough riders. His famous words were walk softly and carry a big stick. This is exactly what's wrong with America these days. Some argue his greatest accomplishments were with the rough riders, others would prefer to commemorate his days in the wilderness of America. If you look at what he wrote, it was his political accomplishments that he himself was most proud of. Still, we like to glorify the blood and guts of this man, while someone like Woodrow Wilson, who dreamed of a world peace is swept under the rug of history.

It's sad, really, that American culture as degraded to the point where all we want to see is a ripped guy blow stuff up, get a babe, and drive off into the sunset. We like our food like our cars like our women, and it's getting faster than I can handle. The American media portrays larger than life characters that, while entertaining, are just funny to look at walking down the streets. People don't seem to realize that real people to say and act like those on the screen, and they try to imitate what they see cause they think it's cool. People let the media tell them what to think all too often. You have to formulate your own opinions on matters, and feel it out. Don't do something because you think it's cool, do something because you feel it's right.

As for kicking the ass out of other countries, if you ask me that went the way of the powdered wig. Civilization has reached a point where communication can allow us to settle differences without the sword. The problem is with what's going on behind the scenes and what's motivating that. Selfishness and greed and the true American legacies. As much as we say we are a beacon to freedom, from the very start we have been hypocrites. When Jefferson declared independance, he owned slaves and said that while he felt it was wrong he just couldn't imagine things any other way. Fast forward a couple of centuries and you get Ho-Chi-Min quoting Jefferson when he thought the age of Imperialism had ended in his country and they would be free to pursue their own destiny. Instead America trounced on the down-trodden once again. Osama Bin-Laden had five grievences with which he justified his attack on America. While I may not agree with what his problems were, atleast I could tell someone what those five reasons are, could you do the same? America's a badass alright, it's a new age of imperialism, except this time it's economic instead of territorial. That's the truth.

But the image is that of Arnold Swartzenagger with the smoking gun, shades, boots and leather jacket, or Tom Cruise, with the skin tight shirt, skin tight pants, cod piece, and gay lover not spoken of. They're the real American's in most people's eyes, the stars we fantasize about being. The truth is, the real American is the person who goes to work every day, a dreary existance in which there is little reward and even less respect. That's a real american hero. The bad-asses are just what their name says, cause they don't do nothing for noone, and serve no purpose other than their own personal goals.

So why do we worship them so? Why do guys strive to be them and women strive to be with them? What is the essence of coolness passed around like so much currency? It's hard to define the intangible, but I'll say this much. A bad-ass is an ideal not meant to be obtained. While it may seem cool to not answer to anyone, travel the road alone seeking vengance, it's not a happy life. It's empty, and rather one-dimensional. We like it cause it's simple. A bad-ass is someone not to be triffeled with. You're scared of them because they could do anything. They're strong, mean, and effecient. Sounds like good qualities, but when they're your only qualities life is rather meaningless. As children, little boys in America strive to be bad-asses. As we grow up though, we realize life isn't that simple, and we aren't really capable of being a bad-ass, there's too much else out there to live for to be tied down to harsh ideals that leave no room for enjoyment. Men see that women shift their desires from a bad-ass tough guy to a sensitive guy, one who understands what they're saying and care about. While not all men grow up, so too do not all women grow out of this phase. It is just a phase to be passed over, but many cling to it because it was the best time they ever had, and they're afraid what's next might not be as good. If you don't move on, you'll never know if what's out there is better. It's not an over-night process either, just let what I've written sink in for a while.

I'm a bad-ass, and I ain't proud of it anymore but it's all i know how to be