On my mind is that most Americans take being American and living in the United States - and everything that means - for granted.
My references to "you" here are general - not necessarily pointed towards this group or any individual.
You take religious freedom for granted, and while you verbalize that "theocracy = bad" you've never experienced living in one and how that makes a person appreciate everything America is.
You take women's rights for granted. Yes, you see stories in the news about how women have no rights in other places and think it's wrong, but you rarely see it in action; how women are bound not only by laws, but by cultural expectations elsewhere in the world.
For every person, Republican or Democrat, who has ever cursed the POTUS, you forget that elsewhere in the world the same words are sometimes a death sentence.
For every person, Republican or Democrat, who has ever cursed the other group, you forget that elsewhere in the world such debates are forbidden. Puppet governments are created to appease the people, and no one has a say in anything. You forget that your greatest fortune is often your differences... and the ability to have and verbalize those differences.
You complain about the regulation of anything and everything and the money spent for regulations, but you've never lived in a place where there is little to no regulation and anything could be a potential hazard for yourself or your children.
And, for the Christmas holiday, you take for granted that every store you enter will be playing Christmas songs. The mall will be filled with Christmas trees. The place you work will close early for Christmas celebrations - even have a company Christmas party. You complain about commercialization, but often forget that elsewhere in the world, Christians are a minority... Christmas is hardly celebrated (if at all), and in some places Christmas celebrations are entirely banned.
