What America was, and what it is now

Ten years ago, I was in Baghdad attending a conference on Palestine, I met a short and rather square Russian woman, wearing four rows of medals on her ample chest. She asked me where I was from. I replied, “America.” She asked, “Do you mean the United States?” Indeed, I did, and from that time forward I always replied to this question, “United States” or “US.”

- Michael Jansen, Political Correspondent

By saying “America” I seemed to imply the entire western hemisphere which comprises 35 states in North, Central and South America. These days, I normally reply, “Cyprus” as I am also a citizen of this land with a civilisation which emerged 11,000-10,000 BC in West Asia.

By comparison, the US has an all too brief history. “American” colonists living in the 13 east coast states revolted in 1776 against Britain. The cause was taxation without representation; they threw boxes of tea into Boston harbour and declared their independence. At the time of the “Boston Tea Party,” the population of these states was 3,929,114, today these states alone of 50 have a population of 331,449,281.

When on Saturday, July 4th, the US celebrated the 250th anniversary of independence, commentators, politicians, and citizens had a great deal to say about current divisions and antagonisms. The primary exploiter of an already tense situation has been Donald Trump who has assumed full executive powers, ignored Congress, which is meant to provide checks and balances, and sidelined the Supreme Court which is intended to decide the legality of policies. Trump has also made anniversary celebrations about him, promoted his Republican party and sidelined the Democrats.