seven years
Sep. 11th, 2008 09:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swan_towerI don't want to think about the past today -- not because it isn't worth remembering, but because I want to keep my eye on the future.
In a little less than two months, the adult citizens of the United States have a choice to make.
One side tells you America is great. We are the best nation on earth, and the other guy envies and hates us because of it. They tell you our economy is strong, and the people who think otherwise are whiners. They tell you our health care is fine, because anybody without insurance can just go to an emergency room, where they cannot be refused care. They tell you our environment (and everybody else's) is not changing, and nothing happening with it is our doing. They tell you we can answer all our energy needs by drilling more.
The other side tells you America can be greater. We are a wonderful nation, but that does not mean we should not make ourselves better still. They tell you our economy is faltering, but we can change it so that the guys at the bottom have a chance to lift themselves higher. They tell you our health care is inadequate, but we can change it so parents don't have to choose between going to work and staying home with a sick child. They tell you our environment is in flux, but we can change the habits that are sending it awry. They tell you we can answer our energy needs, not just for now but for the future, by looking to answers other than oil.
One says we don't need to change. The other says we must, and we can.
The first side tells you their attitude is patriotic. I call it arrogant. Patriotism is not resting on your laurels, assuming your forefathers and foremothers did all the work for you. It's rolling up your sleeves and acting to make things better, because you want to see your nation become more than it already is. It's looking to the future, and asking how you can improve it for the generations to come.
Patriotism is hard work.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity . . . .
Good words. As far as I'm concerned, they don't stop with the Constitution. Justice, domestic tranquility, and all the rest -- perfection included -- are something we need to keep fighting for.
In a little less than two months, the adult citizens of the United States have a choice to make.
One side tells you America is great. We are the best nation on earth, and the other guy envies and hates us because of it. They tell you our economy is strong, and the people who think otherwise are whiners. They tell you our health care is fine, because anybody without insurance can just go to an emergency room, where they cannot be refused care. They tell you our environment (and everybody else's) is not changing, and nothing happening with it is our doing. They tell you we can answer all our energy needs by drilling more.
The other side tells you America can be greater. We are a wonderful nation, but that does not mean we should not make ourselves better still. They tell you our economy is faltering, but we can change it so that the guys at the bottom have a chance to lift themselves higher. They tell you our health care is inadequate, but we can change it so parents don't have to choose between going to work and staying home with a sick child. They tell you our environment is in flux, but we can change the habits that are sending it awry. They tell you we can answer our energy needs, not just for now but for the future, by looking to answers other than oil.
One says we don't need to change. The other says we must, and we can.
The first side tells you their attitude is patriotic. I call it arrogant. Patriotism is not resting on your laurels, assuming your forefathers and foremothers did all the work for you. It's rolling up your sleeves and acting to make things better, because you want to see your nation become more than it already is. It's looking to the future, and asking how you can improve it for the generations to come.
Patriotism is hard work.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity . . . .
Good words. As far as I'm concerned, they don't stop with the Constitution. Justice, domestic tranquility, and all the rest -- perfection included -- are something we need to keep fighting for.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 05:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 05:33 pm (UTC)Catherine
no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 05:57 pm (UTC)I'm still unsure about the election. Not because I'm torn between one side or another, I definitely know I'm all for change.
I just can't help but think... people aren't ready for the level of hard work and real, true, change that's necessary in order to actually fix our country. They say they are, they say they want it, but when it comes down to actually changing attitudes and habits... that's a bit harder.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 06:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 06:49 pm (UTC)As I said, I'm all for change, and for doing the work and what's necessary to make it happen. But not everyone is, and I don't just mean the people who will vote for the side that doesn't want to change.
I can't help feeling that people want the person they voted in the office to do all the work for them. It doesn't work that way; sure, the President does a lot of the work, but there's responsibility on us as citizens to 1) support him in his endeavors (so long as they are morally and ethically the right thing to do) and 2) enforce the measures he takes to change... especially when the change affects the way we live, as anything involving the environment, health care and economy ultimately will.
I'm torn between optimistically and idealistically hoping the revolution will indeed happen... and pessimistically saying "But people will never change." Because ultimately, the revolution must happen on an internal level in every individual before it can have any effect on outside factors.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 07:17 pm (UTC)100% participation will never happen, and even 70% participation won't appear overnight. But getting ten or twenty percent up and running makes the rest of it more likely.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-12 05:05 pm (UTC)Thanks for your post. :)