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Edited on Thu Dec-20-07 09:38 PM by Mythsaje
When I was young, I learned the history of our nation. How its inception was born of a dream of freedom, separated from the demands of King and Pope. How it faltered, how the dream was sometimes cast aside, or forgotten, but how it lingered through every single period of our history, whispering truth and justice in the ears of those who would listen.
When we rose up to break the shackles that bound our human brethren, when we stood up and entreated our government to grant our sisters the right to vote, and when we stood up to prevent tyrants from dominating Europe not just once, but twice. It whispered into our hearts and minds when we raised our voices to grant equality to the downtrodden among us, when we decried the hideous cost of the war in Vietnam and brought out soldiers home. When our workers demanded safer working conditions and better pay, we stood by them and forced the corporations to change.
It whispers now, in one of the darkest times in our history, when our leaders have strummed the chords of fear and terror to drive the hope from our hearts.
America used to the land of big shoulders, big hearts, and big ideas. A place where, if someone faltered, there was always someone nearby to catch the fall. Where those who could lend strong arms and backs to rebuild their neighbors' homes if they were destroyed were all too happy to do so.
That spirit, the best thing about America, is not lost. It still resides within each of us. It is our duty to take up the call of our nation, to stand up for what has again been lost or set aside, and to cry out. "This is my country! And I have a right to be proud of it!"
It is time to return to the hope of the past, to look beyond the illusions cast by those who only think of the NOW, or the next fiscal quarter. It's about what America might become, and where it might go.
We can reclaim the dream of America. We MUST reclaim the dream of America. Or else it was never any more than a lie.
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