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| America |
The other day I was studying a course on how to study(imagine that) called The Student Hat and it dawned on me that perhaps we as a nation have a misunderstanding on what is to be an American. I don't remember it being defined in school nor have I seen any written description of what is expected of an American other that The Pledge of Allegiance(devotion or loyalty to a person, group, or cause) and my Oath of Enlistment for the USAF. I always thought that it was odd that the country that had the most freedoms would have so many people acting in such a manor as to intentionally cause fear, hate, destruction, division and ultimately a reduction of unity, safety, happiness and freedom for all citizens. In my, perhaps naive, view I always thought that America stood for freedom and stands as place of dreams for the entire world. A place where any person from any land can arrive here with virtually the shirt on his back and by his own will and persistence pursue his happiness and goals unhampered by government or ideologies. Not only that but with tremendous assistance from his now fellow Americans via medical, welfare, educational systems and grants. In an ideal world all of these things would create a sense of pride and loyalty and a desire to help and contribute to the betterment of our nation or at least the persistence of it. But this is not the case because we as a people do not have the basic agreement of what it is to be an American and what is expected of us. Once we understand this then we can spread out a little more into what our roles are as citizens of the greatest country on earth and from there the next step of how we can identify our enemies behind the scene that are continually promoting war, racial divide, religious intolerance and hatred to line their pockets with blood money. I have personally met thousands of people from all around this world and all across America and they are by and large good people trying hard to make a good life for their families and are not trying to take advantage of others. They are filled with the hopes and dreams we all hold in common. Why do we allow our "leaders" to act in petty criminal ways? Why do we tolerate lies and deceit? Maybe it's because we don't have the basic agreements as a group as to what we are? Maybe we need to figure out what it means to be an American as a group. Then we can decide what is survival for America and what is not. Is this a simple viewpoint-yes. Is it workable-I think so. Is it worth creating a movement along the lines of "Bring back the American Dream"? What do you think? Marc Cosentino Veteran USAF, Citizen USA, An American By the way, it's ok to be proud of your heritage and fly a Flag
