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13 October 2005 @ 09:59 am
Killing Ourselves  
Thoughts:

There was a time when great men gathered together, in a new place, and forged a new country, a place of freedom. They left behind the kings and unfair practices of previous homes, and in it's place set up somewhere shiny and new. No, it wasn't perfect (after all, slavery was still legal, women did not vote, etc.) but it was a dream, a chance to start again, to be free from the rule of tyranny.

Time passed. Things changed, usually for the better. Bloody wars were fought, sure, but the end results were new laws that established freedoms and equality. America was spoken of in reverent tones, a place where anyone had the chance to be their own person and make their fortune, a place where streets were paved in gold.

Where is that America now?

When was the last time you heard about laws being passed that were in favour of equality? Not for a long time now...but oh, can we name the conflicts that separate us: Abortion debates...Gay marriage...The so-called Patriot Act...Tax breaks for the richest while taxes are raised for the poor...Leaders lying about our reasons for striking first in war...Religious leaders breaking vows and sinning...the list goes on. With the sixties, there was a outpouring of protesting, the first real test of America's freedoms, and it has shown itself lacking. Time continues, and those freedoms are slowly removed, changed, or re-interpreted to remove the ability to be truly free. Our dream was shown to be quite different from reality, and America's masters showed that they tyranny their forebears left behind was alive and well in the hearts of evil men. And where is the country in all this? More importantly, where is that iconic America that is the dream of all free men?

Dying.

Where once we were longed for, now we are reviled. Where once our streets were paved in gold, now they run with blood. Where once we welcomed others to the Melting Pot, now we turn them away or imprison them in Guantanamo Bay. Where once we had free speech, now we put protesters behind fences. Where once we had freedom of religion, now we make laws based on faith. That dream of freedom is slowly but surely being strangled by hate, corruption, and close-mindedness. As that dream of freedom dies, so does our National Character...as the dream dies, so do we all as citizens of this place.

Don't allow that dream to die.

Now you know where I stand. Don't fool yourself into thinking I give a rat's ass about political parties, they are all equally corrupt and useless in my eyes. I don't care for politics. I'm not interested in the petty bullshit, I want to see this country live up to it's potential and it's purpose. If that makes me a radical, then fine, I am a radical...and still a bigger patriot than any flag-waving, baby-kissing politician.
 
 
Current Music: Prodigy - Their Law (featuring Pop Will Eat Itself)
 
 
Sribbles McBottomfootachmanage on October 13th, 2005 05:31 pm (UTC)
Wow.
Elli Mayhem: McWordellimayhem on October 13th, 2005 06:21 pm (UTC)
And I would add this thought: when is the last time a presidential candidate did not have anywhere in their platform a campaign to rescind hard-won rights and freedoms? One party wants to take away your reproductive freedoms, the other your right to bear arms.

It was upon this realization I founded the "They All Suck" party. Because They All Suck. The first tenet of our platform is that no rights or freedoms shall be revoked.
Dr. McMayhem, Licensed Cynic and Elitist Zombiemcmayhem on October 13th, 2005 06:30 pm (UTC)
Yes, the laws are indeed divisive. But how does a country with such varied cultures and opinions police itself otherwise? How do you keep an entire "Melting Pot" nation content, aside from doing away with all laws entirely? There will always be someone complaining; someone claiming that their culture- the culture we claim to value, as being one of the many which make this country so diverse- is being ignored, oppressed, or disregarded. I don't know if there's truly a way to unite this entire nation, with its myriad ways of life and traditions. The time you speak of, when we were envied and revered, is one that upheld an America run by white men. Things haven't changed TOO much, no, but clearly we've moved forward in leaps and bounds to make the country more all-inclusive since then. The Civil Rights movement alone made a huge difference. Though we claimed at the height of our greatness to encourage diversity of opinion and richness of culture, we had not actually achieved such a patchwork nation yet. And now that we have, we're finding it impossible to make the reality of it function correctly.
Sribbles McBottomfootachmanage on October 13th, 2005 07:10 pm (UTC)
So in other words, "At least the white man's trains ran on time."
Dr. McMayhem, Licensed Cynic and Elitist Zombiemcmayhem on October 13th, 2005 07:40 pm (UTC)
In the case of America, which (in its persisting state) was founded by white puritans, yes. Same would apply to, say, Italians in Italy, Nigerians in Nigeria, etc. Once you start encouraging the influx of immigrants, you start getting conflicting ideals and the legal problems begin. We were idealistic and didn't recognize that these conflicts would largely be our undoing.
Sribbles McBottomfootachmanage on October 13th, 2005 08:34 pm (UTC)
I thought we did recognize them when we closed off our borders. Seems like some people STILL don't recognize the problem while others do and the ones that don't are constantly undermining the Do-ers' attempts to solve the problem. I can name a few organizations that could go straight to Hell for all I care.

Oh dear sweet Operation Wetback, how candid you were. How sweet, how rare.
God of Thunder and Rock'n'Roll: Burn The Worldarchmage on October 13th, 2005 07:18 pm (UTC)
And that's really thre crux of the problem, as we're only now really finding out: the true 'complete equality' that the dream touts is all but an impossibility, due to human nature. For it to work, there has to be a retraction of the self from each citizen, and each citizen has to place the well-being of the whole above themselves. The problem is that humans are very self-important, and will (as a group) choose to support one side over another, the side differing by each one's personal beliefs. And, because they are personal beliefs and not factual truths, they cannot be defended, molded, or suborned. The fractures widen, the schism increases.

Can this nation be united? Nope. Not while human nature still reigns. But while the Body Politic is an idiot, the individual can be smart...get enough of them together, and they could make a difference. Gotta start somewhere...the problem is that this method is very slow and hard to get going due to the overwhelming odds, but trying to get a group swayed is impossible, you can only shore up their present belief or mock it, and both only rile it up.
thndrchldthndrchld on October 14th, 2005 06:31 am (UTC)
A thought
First, thank you. Too often I think I am the only idealistic patriot left. It's good to know there is at least one other.

As a female who's grandmother was a member of the League of Women Voters and lived in the time when she had no voice in government. As the daughter of the first generation of women who entered the workplace in numbers, and a woman who has had to live in a world of discrimination, I will tell you this one thing.

The first step to equality is not accepting anything less. You can not legislate me equal, you cannot decide to make me equal, *I* have to believe I am, first. I think the same thing goes for freedom. A man I admire a great deal once said: "When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, 'This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,' the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man; the most you can do is kill him."

So, no one can 'give' us our freedom, we have to earn it for ourselves, believe in it with all our minds and hearts and insist on it in our own lives and among those with which we live. I deeply believe that legislation is not the path, but communication, respect and dignity is.