Politics

Reasons to be a Proud American no Matter Who Wins the Election

To say that there is a politically charged atmosphere here in the United States right now would be an understatement, and living in Washington DC, I am literally in the heart of it.  The thing is though, what started out as constructive debate has spiraled out of control.  I find that everybody is convinced that if the candidate they support is not elected, the world is going to end.  To be honest, I am sick of this “my candidate or we all die” attitude.  Now, I understand that people have a right to be passionate about this election.  Our country is in the middle of an economic crisis of epic magnitude, we are engaged in two wars, and our power and influence are beginning to slip.  Frankly, I would be concerned about your mental health if you don’t have a strong opinion about what direction you think the country needs to take in order to solve our problems. We are clearly divided and it is making it very difficult to get things done, but the thing is, I can’t seem to figure out why, because from where I stand, it looks like we are all fighting to achieve the same goals.

Why the Misunderstanding?

We all want freedom, safety, and financial security.  It’s just the policies that we choose to reach those goals that differ.  Democrats blame George Bush and Republicans blame Bush and the Democratic Congress.  The truth is, our problems were caused by conflicting policies and bipartisanship.  Neither party is innocent and we the people suffer because both parties in government failed to work together and create a coherent plan for our country.  We need to stop bickering and dismissing each others opinions and start working together to fix our mess.

So What’s the Point?

My point here is that although we may feel lost, our founding fathers were kind enough to build a sturdy foundation for the future of our country.  Even in tough times we still have our freedoms which we should never forget to be thankful for.  In a country of 300 million people, we still have state and local government, giving us maximum control over the policies that govern our daily lives.  We even get to express our most important right, the right to vote, on November 4th.  The most important thing we can remember come election day is that WE are the boss.  If our representatives don’t act in our best interest.  It’s our job to fire them.

The fact of the matter is that even now in tough times, America is a pretty good place to live.  While I might hold off on buying that new car or some plastic junk made in China, I still have food on the table.  I will always remember to be thankful for this.  While income inequality is a problem, America has always been proudly commuted to entrepreneurship and innovation.  Nothing is stopping anybody from coming up with a great idea, finding investors, and starting the next Microsoft.

I’m also proud to see how far my country has come in the quest for equality.  While racism and sexism embarrassingly continue to rear their ugly heads, Barack Obama and Sarah Palin are proof that America has made great strides of progress in a short period time.

Less than 40 years ago, America was able to put a man on the moon, and no other country has been able to duplicate our achievement since.  We are a great nation of great people, and when we work together, we are capable of great things.  As far as this election goes, both the liberal and conservative ideologies have flaws and neither candidate is 100% right.  We need to understand that we are all Americans and we are all on the same team.  Instead of bashing eachother over the heads, we should pool our expertise, and only then will we be able to fix our problems and acomplish great things.  Until we can do this, I fear things will only get worse for our great nation, yet I am still proud to be an American.  I am proud because looking back at our history in the good times and the bad, we have always found a way to survive.  Our strength comes from our differences and the fact that no matter what path we take to get there, we are all working towards the same goals.

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