I think a lot. Some tell me I think too much. Our brains are our greatest asset. With all that is going on, I find myself thinking about the future. There is no guarantee the future comes. In thinking for the future, I was neglecting to act in the present. How could I not say anything? What good are articles languishing in the dead draft box? Then I remember. It is never too late to speak up for what you believe! Our country is traveling a precarious road. Is this the path we should be taking?
The perilous path that lies ahead is always fraught with danger. Our success as a country has made us complacent. Petty arguments on a national scale. Petty arguments, which have no place even on children’s playgrounds. It is ridiculous to claim we are all different. We are all born in the same hospitals. We all attend the same schools. Those of you want to split hairs, save it, you know what I mean. We fight among ourselves as if we are not all from the same country.
Lost Horizons
The irony of our immigration argument sinks in the quicksand of stupidity. Millions of people in this country pay homage to countries many will never see. The majority of Americans claim some form of foreign ancestry. No one would know by their shrill cries against new immigrants arriving in our country today.
I don’t give a damn about your skin color, it means nothing to me, It means nothing to our enemies abroad. Do you think when the planes hit the towers they made calculations on who was inside? When our military is fighting do you believe they shoot just white or black soldiers? They are shooting Americans. Period. All these groups, the labels made by a social scientist with the good intention some may argue. Others may argue the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Lost Identity
Our national identity was lost among all the people screaming about their differences. They come up with new histories and rhetoric to give lost souls something to latch upon. The satisfaction of living in one of the most successful countries in modern history should be enough. Instead, they use it to hate. This is not about white people. This is not about black people. This is not about Mexican. This is not about your Chinese. This is not about native Americans. This is about all people. I see the spoiled ancestors of immigrants. People that fought hard to give us the opportunities we enjoy today.
The blood in the soil is all red. It comes from all the people that gave their lives to make this country a beacon of hope. This country was built upon the idea that humanity can co-exist side by side no matter how you are born. They discussed ideas with the future in mind, but today we argue more on how to hang on to a past that is gone. It is not coming back. We can not undo the mistakes of the past, but we can learn from the lessons. Not just lessons from hundreds of years ago, lessons from decades, even weeks ago. Our greatest strength has been our ability to accept change. It often comes with a price, but as Douglas said, “without struggle, there is no progress.”
For us to progress as a nation, it is high time we put some arguments to rest. We need a national identity, recognize that we are one people, indivisible under our flag. Our greatest strength lies in the fact people from all over the world were coming to our shores. The small minds turning you against our time-honored tradition. The liberty oath includes accepting, the tired, weak, and huddled masses. Some of the great fortunes were born from people of those masses. By using their talents to make this country strong. They were showing the world all people are capable of greatness. If given the chance.
Weeds In Our Garden
I want to pull the weeds from amongst our people. The rhetoric. The ideas. False and ignorant ideologies that turn you against your country's people and humanity. Our current behavior draws too many parallels to hated regimes of modern history. How can we stay silent as our President asks our Congress to build a Berlin Wall across our borders? Using a threat to destroy our first efforts of a national healthcare system as coercion. Our leaders should take it like spit in the face of our history. Our nation has a great deal at stake. Far more than petty squabbles of political ideology. Ideology is drawn from straw polls given by paid consultants. Ridiculous.
What colors will the stars be that we hand out as we round up people in search of a better life?
To label them all as criminals and scum is an act of cowardice. It is a betrayal of everything we stand for as a country. Putting people in camps due to their religious beliefs is revolting, not a rallying cry. Have we taken so many steps forward only to run backward? Wherever your voice is hiding, now is the time to find it.
Hear Me Out
I can only hope that you all understand the importance of what I am saying. I want you to understand how important it is to remember that we are striving to make the world a better place, not become like it. It is not easy to think about the future, so I ask you to think about our present. Do any of the actions taken represent a road you wish our country to travel? With a rookie at the helm, other nations are baiting him into actions that will have consequences. We are already fighting a war. A war against an invisible enemy that only grows with our continuing presence. The Middle East has the same effect as the Russian Winter on invading armies, it drains them, it defeats them. Never by force, but by their very existence. A war against nature will never be won. I am not a man of peace, but I am a man of logic. Logic holds that our current course of action will not improve our long-term prospects. We must look beyond short-term gains. We must be patient.
The Game Is Always Afoot
We are a young country playing an old game. It may seem harsh to refer to world politics as a game. Strategy is the game of life. Life is a game. All games are not entertaining, some games are brutal and unrelenting. To move forward in this game, we must move together. How can we make decisions when we still think of ourselves as a separate people. When thinking of past heritages, remember that our current heritage is most important. We are citizens of the United States of America, there should be no hyphens. We will succeed in this game, but we must do so as one people. There will be no minorities if we embrace the fact that we are a majority.
We are all citizens of a great place. It is our duty as citizens to do what it takes to keep the torch of liberty burning bright as a beacon of hope. We will not succumb to the hubris which has taken down great nations before us. We can not change our past. We can not guess our future with certainty. What we can do is take one step, make one move in this game. That move is for us to throw aside all false ideas that turn us against one another. Any notions of colors come from the past, if we are to move forward, we must do so by living up to the ideals on which we all talk. It is time for us to walk the walk.
By Jonas Hughes
