“I hardly ever give my opinion on politics but lately I find myself reading newspapers, blogs, and online articles about the world that is ever-changing. I’ve lived in Montana & California for most of my life, with the exception of the time I spent in Canada and Mexico. Lucky for me, everything seems to always work out in my life. I feel very blessed. But over the years, several major events have occurred that made me start paying attention to what was happening to my beloved country, one of which happens to be the tragedy of 9/11. How can we forget that day? That was the day America watched the unthinkable happen, and it happened in front of our eyes. Since then we have experienced a shift in our culture. It seems that we have eagerly given up a large portion of our liberty and freedom in exchange for vague promises of security. Eleven years later, we have unprecedented debt, unprecedented deficits, the economy crashed, gas prices are ever rising, food prices have skyrocketed, the mom and pop shops of yesterday are nearly non existent, and honestly the list goes on and on for as far as the eye can see — it’s not all related to 9/11, but the economic weakness of the United States was accelerated by our response to this horrific tragedy. What happened America? Why are we so scared, and I’m not just talking about outside terrorists, why are we so scared of ourselves? As HBO’s “The Newsroom” stated “America is not the greatest country in the world anymore”. Leave it to a script writer to hit the nail on the head. Because there right we’re not. “We use to be. We use to stand up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws, for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed. We cared about our neighbors. We put our money where our mouths were. And we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the worlds greatest artists and the worlds greatest economy. We reached for the stars. Acted like men. and we aspired to intelligence. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men. Men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.” Having heard this speech and personal experienced watching all of this happen, I believe what our country desperately needs is a leader who loves us. Americans have been treated with contempt for so long that we have become inured to our own society’s suffering. I want a leader who can love us. And, truthfully, by our collective behaviour, we have made it hard to demand this. We are as we are, imperfect to the max, racist and sexist and greedy above all; still, I feel we deserve leaders who love us. We will not survive more of what we have had: leaders who love nothing, not even themselves. Our taxes are collected without fail, with no input from us; sometimes, because we lack jobs they are paid with money we have to borrow. Our children are sent places they never dreamed of visiting, to harm and make enemies of people who, prior to their arrival, had thought well of them. Kind, smart, freedom-loving Americans. I mean where does this leave us average Americans? Who feel the chill of global warming, the devastation of war, the terror of being jobless, the lack of security in our future and in our country? Hopefully with a sense of awakening: that we have had few opportunities to be led by those who have the capacity to care for us, to love us, and that we, in our lack of love for ourselves, have, too often, not chosen them. Perhaps with the certainty that though we are as we are and sorely imperfect, we still deserve someone in leadership who “gets” us, and that this self-defeating habit of accepting our leaders’ contempt need not continue. Wake up America, It’s time to stand up for what is right. It’s time to fight for moral reasons. To passed moral laws, and strike down laws that do not meet our moral expectations. It’s time to wage war on poverty, not on our poor people. It’s time we sacrificed for the good of “the people” and to care about our neighbors. It’s time to put our money where our mouths are. And to stop beating our chests.
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