What do we have to offer the world?

I love living in the US of A, but after an afternoon spent at the local megamall the question arose, "What exactly makes us so great a people? Are we a great people? What do we have culturally that is so great?" If a slice of the population that I observed massing back and forth between what is trendy and not trendy is any indication of where we are headed and what we offer the world, then it ain't looking good. I saw many faces that looked oblivious to what was outside of their small world of themselves. Granted I am also guilty of thinking the world revolves around me from time to time, but I am capable of stopping and noticing that it doesn't, occasionally. I don't fear for my country so much, because I am an ardent believer that we still have the power to rise up to any challenge. I'm from the South, so that's pretty much ingrained into my being.

Living in the nation's capital tends to make it hard to miss daily world events. Its one thing or another here. But get outside of the area by say 35-50 miles and you might as well be in Kansas. It seems to me that people do not realize how what happens in this city really affects them. Maybe its because they are so far down the chain or they just don't care. Or maybe I'm the one who is missing something. Ok, rambled enough for the evening.