My Light Bulb Moment

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/03/new-formula-values-earth-at-5-quadrillion-dollars.php

As a human I contain curiosity and the will to learn new things. As I sat at my computer, eating cheesecake and reading this article, I suddenly realized how unimportant I am to this planet. This isn't to say that I am unimportant to the people around me or the community around me, but the fact of how minuscule I may be to history. Think about this, most of the population  can tell me one thing about their parents. Simple enough, but what about your grandparents? I know lots of people of can tell me one thing about their grandparents. What about your great-grandparents? This is where things get tricky, but the sad and surprising thing is that I couldn't tell you anything about my great-great-grandparents. Can you believe it? In three generations I will most likely be forgotten. A sad thought or old picture is all that's left. As it should, this saddens me greatly. Through this sad and depressed thought I continued to read the article.

This is where I realized my purpose in life, on this earth. Even though, in less than one hundred years I will be forgotten, the earth will remain in what ever state we, or I, leave it. The earth will remain taking care of the next generations, providing us with water and food for our own benefit. So while living on this very expensive earth I must remember that even when I'm long gone the earth will carry the consequences of the good or bad choices  I make. This is a good thing to remember when I recycle, or when I let my car run longer than I should. The earth carries the choices of 6,775,000,000 people on its shoulders.

What do they REALLY think?

I am personally very interested in other countries out side the US. Through this interest I have noticed that the population of other countries don't really like the United States. But why? I can see that we are actually quite a negative impact on the rest of the world, with our materialism and arrogance, but what do they see? As we all know, we have a somewhat rocky relationship with the middle east, but are they the only ones who hate us? I have looked at quotes from personal opinion of some foreigners and this is what I saw.
"When she went to a doctor here to get her prescription refilled the doctor demanded that she retake some tests because he believed that French Doctors were unqualified and stupid. She has faced more hate here in the states for France then she EVER experienced over there for Americans…"
This is a quote about a woman's aunt who came to the US after living in France for many years. So, even after being born and raised in the U.S. but lives in France for 15 years, a person gets treated differently? Here is a second interesting quote that I found.
"Most of the world doesn’t give a damn about America. Most of the world doesn’t care because it has no real impact on THEIR LIVES. Just like most Americans don’t care what most of the rest of the world thinks about them… They care about getting to work, Feeding their kids, Shopping, The same things that we spend most of our energy doing."
Does this mean that we were wrong all along? Do they really not care? Have we created an image that all the other countries hate us? It wouldn't be the first time that we have created an image of hate and distrust out of confusion and false facts, now would it? There is another side to all this. Some people actually do believe that the united states is loved by most countries, that we are a source of  inspiration to others. This is an interesting quote about America's image.
"In a certain time, I was fond of the Americans, I just saw the bright image the Americans draw for themselves in the media and not to forget Hollywood. Now, sorry to say that I'm not a fan anymore, especially after Iraq war and the increasing support for Israel. America now has no credibility at all."
So is this to say that we are a far away land that children dream about, where food gets served a whole 3 times a day and everyone goes to hollywood to surf and have fun? Are we a children's dream, crushed by the reality of our political arrogance? 
This isn't to say or prove that all other countries hate us, but instead to prove that we may not matter so much to other countries. To them we are a nation that is young and unaware of how we really unimpactful are to "their" lives. This isn't to say that we don't impact the world politics or economics, but instead showing that we really don't matter in the hearts of common citizens around the world. To finish I would like to give a quote from one Canadian who has her own opinion.
"Haven't heard of Saskatchewan? It's a province touching 2 of your states for goodness sake. I've heard of all of your states, but you (not you personally of course) can't recognize the names of simply 10 provinces (and 3 territories). Some don't know how similar we really are to the states. I once heard someone say they thought we all lived in igloos and have polar bears outside our windows. Once when my mom was paying for something, an American was flabbergasted that we had our own money, and it's not all green!"