Freedom

Date: November 11, 2019 when that person whose name I will not speak is president.

I am thankful to be able to write these words on a platform I choose with words of my own. I am thankful to those who fought for this freedom, strangers I don’t know — perhaps even immigrants who believe in the dream of America. I am thankful to my family members, those still living and those who gave their lives in service to a country whose values they upheld. In all that we do here in our country, supporting our veterans with programs they need should be a first consideration, because they give the ultimate service to our freedom.

I wonder how long I will have the freedom to speak my mind– or you yours. Because it seems the current administration and his family are bound and determined to divide us — to call those whose ideas are different, hateful; to write an entire book demonizing half our country.  Because that is how humans are: about half of us think one way, and the other half another. But in the past, we’ve found a way to work together, to work through our differences through the structures of our democratic republic: our protocols, laws, government, churches, clubs, neighborhoods, and families.

And I wonder if the soldiers of today value that “upholding of the Constitution” and those important words:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America

We’ve never been perfect, but we have tried to form a more perfect union. We’ve fought and are still fighting to establish justice, we– and our leaders — should be speaking to unite us and insure our domestic tranquility. We have a common defense, and have struggled with promoting the general welfare, although the current administration is taking back regulations for clean air and water– and has done nothing for infrastructure and is preventing the use of accurate scientific research, all of which are basic to promoting the general welfare. I would hope that, contrary to the current administration’s diatribes against certain people and the Press, we will secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity– but we can’t be free without the freedom to speak out, whether as individuals, groups, or the Press.

Make America Great Again? That would mean civil dialogue and acceptance of others’ ideas– not demeaning, degrading, bullying, and preventing bills from even coming to the floor of the Senate.

I’d love to see that Great America again– the voices supporting those who struggle, speaking up for humanitarian rights, protecting the environment, listening and accepting others’ ideas, and then compromising to to get things done to uphold those basic expectations in our Preamble.

Because, I want us all to have our freedoms. I believe that we are all in the struggles of the world together, and that together we will find solutions. That means we work together, we pay taxes, we vote, we help with the issues that affect all of us.

Here’s a small example. I live in a town where people retire. There are so many people here who say, “I don’t have kids in school, so I should not have to pay taxes for those who do.” It doesn’t matter the benefit they’ll get by educating others’ kids — they may become the doctor who who saves your life, or the lab researcher who discovers the drug that keeps you alive, or the kid who rakes your leaves because you can’t anymore. We all benefit from each other. Looking out for “me” just doesn’t help a society succeed. We are all in it together, or we fail — because those people saying no had someone who said yes for their schooling.

So, I hope that we still have people willing to fight and support the freedoms of others, not just themselves. I think it takes a lot of courage to stand up for the rights of others as well as one’s own. That’s real freedom and bravery.

And I am fortunate I can still speak these words and am grateful for those who fought so I could stand up and speak up for those who can’t.

I am just so sad for our country. Are we the land of the free and home of the brave?