by IRENE FOWLER, Contributor

America is teetering on the brink, and which side of history it ends up on, will have lasting implications for the global community at-large. The foundations of America are mired in harsh and callous controversy; an inescapable legacy which has dogged and peppered every defining and accompanying narrative of the nation.

Against this backdrop is the astronomical human progress which has been achieved, and has come to represent the flowering of human potential. The apotheosis of America from the terra firma of fellow earthlings to a bestowed characterization, as “God’s own country” is still current. The moniker conjures notions of astronomical power, limitless resources, grandeur, invincibility, dominance and immortality.

Having the imprimatur of ‘America’ affixed to a person, place or thing, is a universal coin of the realm and mark of peculiarity.