The degradation of our society and overall education has left a bitter, empty shell of a country that all-too closely resembles idiocy. Unfortunately, idiocy is not strong enough of a word to describe the actions I now witness taking place within this once-great nation.
We as a people have forgotten what it means to be free. We have taken for granted, for so long, the efforts made by our fathers’ fathers. We have given in! We no longer fight for our freedom. We don’t work the hard labor required to earn, much less experience, a feeling of accomplishment. When did it become acceptable to be mediocre? When did Americans cease to strive for the exceedingly exceptional and just settle for less than second best? When did we stop dreaming of a better life than that of our parents and a greater world than the one into which we were born?
When we grow old what stories of hard work, trials, tribulations, faith, and perseverance, and honest effort to live life to its fullest will we have to tell our children? What experiences will we have to draw on in order to teach our grandchildren of being anxiously engaged in a truly good cause? Do we truly believe that our irresponsibility as a people, country, and nation will result in lasting prosperity for our posterity?
Instead of laboring, sweating, bleeding, and breaking our backs to change the world, we have accepted an empty imitation of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This is our complacency. This is our laziness. This is our failure. We have fallen in love with the “American legacy,” yet forgotten what was sacrificed to create it!
I protest our failures. I protest our irresponsibility.
Let us take responsibility not only for our complacency, but also our failure to realize the effects it has had on our nation. Greater America is falling apart; people have lost sight of its potential for good and disregarded the safeguards put in place to save it from our lack of fidelity.
What gratitude does our laziness offer? What plain and simple actions could we take to reverse the misshapen future we now prepare to bequeath our children? We are not meant to be babied throughout our lives. We are not meant to have our problems solved for us because they are deemed “too difficult.” Why do we point a finger of blame? We have only ourselves to blame for these issues, and yet we cry out to a corrupt government to rectify our problems. What ever happened to taking responsibility for our own actions? Our lives have become so pampered and pathetic. Rare is the person who cares enough to get his hands dirty, or do anything himself.
We must commit ourselves to the remembrance of the sacrifices and legacy of our forefathers. We must accept that we are not entitled to anything being served to us on a silver platter just because we live in America. This has always been, and still is “a land of opportunity,” not a land of entitlement!
I protest our greed. I protest our laziness. I protest our empty iteration of the “American dream!”
Now, we all know that America has problems. Our attention has been brought to the issues at hand. What’s next? We need solutions. If you see an issue and feel that it is your right, and maybe even your duty, to express your concern you must also realize that there needs to be an “end game. Loud voices and colorful signs only get us so far and it is usually not where we want to go. We need to take the next steps of progress. This is something that we need to do together, united. We cannot drop our problems into the lap of the government and, like children, ask it to “fix it ‘cause it’s broke,” we need to become active participants of the solution. “We the People” need to stop handing the government our power because we think it will take the strain of responsibility off of our shoulders. “We the People” are this country and we need to relearn how to move it. We must be united as a people, not segregated by classes, or any other boundaries. We must see that unorganized foolishness is not a solution!
“We the People” have not kept ourselves educated. We have not valued the freedoms fought for and paid for in blood! We as a unified people have not gained the right to call ourselves American for years! I protest our lack of respect for the mistakes of the past. I protest any American who claims a right to a job and then stops giving his all to gain one. Self-righteous entitlement is the unfortunate result of America’s pride driven greed.
This is my protest. This is our wake up call.
I believe in a responsible people. I believe in an exceptional people. I believe that we the American people are better than this! We feel too much pride to hear this now, and believe in ourselves, and acknowledge our failures and turn a new leaf! Until we realize that the welfare of our Nation is our responsibility, and not the sole domain of our government, the cohesion of our collective society will only get worse.
Stop asking for a solution and provide one! Stop dreaming of living off the wealth of others (no matter how it may have been amassed). Work where you can now or you will never work where you want. Stop believing you are entitled to a certain lifestyle, and remember you have to work to earn the lifestyle you desire. Take responsibility for your life, your welfare, and your future. Be the Americans in which you can claim pride. “Be the change in the world you wish to see.”
Joshua S. Jastal
A real American, with a real protest.
