| In response to a new book I've been listening to, 'America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction', by Jon Stewart and the Daily Show staff, I thought I would share some personal thoughts on what makes America great. By the way, it is satirical, so pretend for a minute you're watching the Colbert Report.
Truthfully, I really do love this country. More than American apple pie, American cheese, and adult swim. I feel as much patriotism to the American flag as I do to my country's flag. The principles of this great nation--free enterprise, freedom to say whatever the heck you want on TV, and freedom to believe water from a spring in northern Canada blessed by a Kabbalah rabbi has the power to stop natural disasters--have shaped the history of the United States... and the Middle East. I admire determination. We'll bring democracy to everyone, whether they like it or not, one oil rich region at a time. Democracy, rule by the people, is spreading rapidly around the world. Actually, I think we need to invent a new word. What's Latin for rule by a foreign superpower? Bushocracy?
Of all the things that make this nation great, it has never been, nor is it supposed to be, the ruling government. America has a great claim to fame: they have the oldest working democracy in the world. They also have one major flaw. They have the oldest working democracy in the world. The current system allows us to choose from a wide variety of two candidates who will knock heads, for the sport of it, for the next four years, until a contender arises from the dust to lay claim to the throne. A man, or woman--heh, right--who will proudly proclaim, "I will represent you the best I can", by voting nay, because my oppenent votes yay. Someone who will responsibly enforce the ninety year old 3-30% temporary war tax by spending $400 billion to collect taxes, contributing to the 'determine how much taxpayer's owe' fund. They will provide freedom by responsibly spending the taxpayers' property; and then spending taxpayer time, as the taxpayers work to earn more property to give to the government to provide more freedom.
Media objectively presents everything citizens need to know to be disgruntled with somebody else. The media has more power in this great nation than the executive branch. Pitting citizens against the legislature, Latin Americans against immigrant descendant Americans, heterosexuals against homosexuals, and donkeys against fat guys afraid of change. They make us aware that immigration is the newest problem decades ago; we were perfectly content not knowing, or caring, that our sanitation workers were breaking the law. Help had to come from somewhere once African Americans found out about the constitution.
What truly makes this nation great is its intellectual properties: the people of this great land, the American voter. Practicing diligently by voting for future insignificant celebrities, this group sends the best and brightest, those few who have mastered the ability to punch a hole in a paper card, to determine who will influence their everyday lives for the next four years. Many will look past the unimportant issues of healthcare, social security, the economy, and foreign affairs, to the real issue of preventing same sex couples from entering into a binding contract. Fifty percent of the younger voters will have learned to locate New York State on a map, and another thirty-seven percent will know where to find their brothers and sisters that are sacrificing their lives to impose democracy in a foreign desert. Educated voters will be happy to know their elected representatives are protecting voters' right to worship nothing at all, as the government puts great attention into removing all references to organized religion.
All this was made possible by a small group of demigods who signed a flawless agreement on July 4, 1776. They understood what it meant to be free. They realized a man was never free until he was free to control his own property, direct his own affairs, and be free from an oppressive ruling body. To this day, our legal system has ignored the trite ideals of philosophy, and upheld the divinity of every letter and word of the constitution that so adequately applied to the political atmosphere of 1776. And that divine document will continue to endure until a group of even more powerful demigods rebels, and produces an even more profound and divine set of legal documents, perhaps one hundred thousand pages longer, writing in stone the indisputable legal guidelines of freedom.
I pray the reader remember that freedom is our greatest commodity. Freedom endowed to us through our creator, freedom to direct our own affairs, and freedom to screw up from time to time. The founding fathers made a document that could be used as a tool to promote freedom, not to restrict it. Freedom that empowered citizens to be aware, not ignorant, of government affairs. To direct government for positive reform, and stop neglection of the will of the people. From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
If you like you can post your comments at canadianembassy.blogspot.com. I'm transitioning. I figure since I'm graduating from college I should also graduate from xanga. I'll come back to visit from time to time though. |
Sorry to disappoint some of you folks, (not overly sorry) but are you really that surprised? My beliefs are just quite different now in that realm.
