As I look out across this land I hear voices yell, “This is not the America that our founding fathers wanted!!” “Our country is falling apart and it’s the entire government’s fault!!”
And as I hear these things, I ask myself, ‘Haven’t we been here before?’ Were we not doomed when we threw tea into the Boston harbor, when we took up arms in Lexington to take on the world’s greatest super power? And how about when Kansas bled for state rights to choose slavery? We may look at our Congress today and say it’s out of control. But then again, at least senators are not caning one another like they were in the hot summer of 1856. And this wasn’t the last time we were doomed, for later that century we found that a house divided can’t in fact-stand.
The cannons of Fort Sumter rang throughout the south. And for four more years bodies would fall throughout the north and south. And finally, in April of 1865 this great house was once again united as one. We would be challenged later that year when our President was shot at a play in Ford’s theater. Hadn’t our country seen enough? But we came though it stronger and more united than before! This united spirit is what has made us strong. This was shown in World War I for if we hadn’t been united we may have never won the name Devil Dogs. When we are faced with fear and hardship, we always find our way through.
This doesn’t ring more true than when we look at our grandparents. Wasn’t this the greatest generation that had ever lived? But what was it that made them so great? These men and women never had it great. They grew up in the dust of Oklahoma and watched as their families’ savings were lost on Black Tuesday in 1929. This generation had to wait in line for food, and for some it wouldn’t be the last time. If any time in our history, this was the time people should have been fearful. But they rallied around their great leader’s words; “That the only thing we had to fear was fear its self.” For some of them the true fear would come when they heard about bombs dropping in Pearl Harbor. Or that of men in far off specs of land that they had never even heard of before. But the thing that made them ring of pride and hope was when they heard of men that had raised a flag exclaiming that America would not perish as easily as the enemy once thought. And later they came home to start the new American dream.
These men and women of the Greatest Generation would give birth to the rebels of the century. This new generation would answer the call from their fearless president. They did not ask what their country could do for them, because for some, their country couldn’t do anything. Instead they asked what they could do for it. Some looked down on these young, long haired revolutionists, but they changed American politics and the way we look at war. Also, if it wasn’t for Martin and Malcolm, our African country men may still not have the right to vote.
I feel that we must be optimistic about the future of our country. We have experienced struggles before. The times may change but the stories never do. We will have citizens challenge our thinking, but they are the ones that lead us forward. Some may revolt but I think we’ve seen the worst before. Our crops may turn to dust and our stocks may crash, but that’s what made us strong. Wars may start but the men we send to fight stand as one. This is not the time to yell that out country is at the end, because like I said, we’ve seen it all before.
