No Return: I never got a receipt

There are two things Americans need to come to grips with.
1) We, by comparison in history, are the youngest nation on the planet. Eastern(Asian), European, South American, African, Middle Eastern, Native American, etc. countries, nationalities, ethnicities, what-have-you, have all existed for centuries longer than we Americans have. WE are the petulant “new” child in the global neighborhood. We need to learn from the histories of others so we can avoid their mistakes and downfalls. If we continue to act the petulant child, we will be treated as such: ignored, shunned, “picked on”, and bullied. And no amount of muscle flexing and pontificating will help. We have to stop acting like we have it all figured out and we know best. We’re deluding ourselves and convincing no one of our superiority.
2) As a species, we are still very close to our animal past. No matter how grand we think we are in nature, Homo Sapiens are still just better dressed animals. And the fact we may be “smarter” implies, to us, that we should have control and dominion over all of nature. But this line of thinking will be our downfall. Our fellow species know far more about long-term survival than we do. If they can’t overcome, they succumb. And global life continues and adjusts. We are all bound by the same laws of nature and regardless of our “superior intellect”, we will thrive or dive with all the rest of nature. We’re nothing special. We need to get over ourselves.