Lately, there has been a great amount of talk regarding the predicament America is in currently. These persons assert that America and the current generation is embroiled an exponentially more dangerous and confusing time than it has ever been, brought on by, inter alia, morally weak politicians and reprehensible societal ideas of propriety and values. Considering some of the stories in the news today, who can really blame them? However, the truth is:
America
is, as of yet, the greatest country in the world. There are, as there always
have been in any society and always will be in every society, those persons who
would ruin her through their own greed and corruption, though not through any
intention towards ruination. Unfortunately, through our own complacency and
apathy, we have allowed these men to become the majority in those bodies to
which we give the power to decide for us.
We have come to this difficult crossroad not
because, as some suggest, the time in which we live is any more confusing or
dangerous as those that have come before; every new moment is both confusing
and dangerous, simply by virtue of it being new. Now is not the time to blame
our problems on the advances of technology, industry, economics, or any other
developments, for there have always been advances. The confusion and danger
that our society faces now, is the same that every society faces, though, for
America, it may be slightly different because we were the first to attempt our
representative democracy on such a large scale.
The
only way to fix this predicament is to do what the members of any free society
must: work! In any society of liberty, it takes work to make that society
function, as it is only through work that true liberty remains. As we have seen
first hand, a refusal to do work, a passing off of that duty to others results,
not in liberty, but in fraud, exploitation, avarice, and subjugation in the
guise of prosperity, equity, and morality. Allowing this to transpire is a
mockery to these values.
Americans,
let us work to gain back what we have lost: our liberty, our dignity, our
pride, our direction, and, most importantly, ourselves. Civic duty is always
one of the most difficult to fulfill, but it is not an impossible goal. To
reach this objective that ever-requires more work, start small: take pride in
your labors of every second; before you vote, research the candidates, find the
ones that conform to your value sets and have proven themselves as men of good
character, and vote for those candidates. If none exist, find the closest one
to those criteria, the “least of the evils,” for if we pick the least of the
evils every time, eventually, there will be a shift to the best of the quality
persons. After you do this, attempt other small civic labors; try to inspire
others to do the same. Eventually, our country will return to one of which
every American can be proud.
