Are American’sToxic?

Mariela Garcia
3 min readAug 24, 2023
Photo by Luke Stackpoole on Unsplash

According to WebMD, a toxic person is someone who is negative and may upset you by being around them.

I recently read Yeonmi Park's book In Order to Live. It was a harrowing tale of her escape from North Korea. She goes into detail about all of the hardships that she endured while in North Korea, but also in her journey towards freedom.

After reading In Order to Live, I learned that she had a follow-up book so I immediately purchased it. In While Time Remains she is more focused on how grateful she is to be in America. A land where the amount of choices is overwhelming for someone who grew up without any.

She is baffled by how Americans are so negative about their country. She makes a great point in that if you have never lived in a country where you face starvation, risk of execution, torture, and point-blank inhumane conditions you have it good. She faced these things daily while in North Korea. You have in fact lived a privileged life just by being born in America.

Her love for America is sincere and genuine. For all of the right reasons. She appreciates it for everything she has never had.

Lately (the past decade), I have noticed that I have been focusing on the negative when it comes to America. Disregarding the fact that my parents sacrificed their lives to come to this country. They knew that if you…

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Mariela Garcia
Mariela Garcia

Written by Mariela Garcia

Happy person. I have a Masters in Public Administration and have certifications in finance, and life coaching. Currently pursuing my teaching credential.

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