I'm Proud to be an American

        Several years ago, had you asked me if I was proud to be an American, my
answer would have been, "Yes," and I was.  We are taught from a young age that
America is the most free-thinking, independent nation in the world, and that we are lucky to have been born into it.  At one point, that may have been true.  However, at the moment, I am not particularly proud to be part of a nation that bases so much on "pro-life" policies, but sends hundreds of young people to be killed in a war that we entered upon lies.  I am not particularly proud to be a citizen of a nation that allows large corporations and drug companies to control the health of our senior citizens who have worked all their lives, and now, in retirement, have to do without.
        To an extent, the flag that we honor each morning of high school has become an illusion.  The values and strength it represented in the beginning have been displaced, and partisan politics, division, and war have taken their places.  We repeat the words we have said since kindergarten, but we don't hear them anymore.  We say them without thinking and slowly, we are losing their meaning altogether. When the national anthem plays at a sporting event, no longer do people stand at attention, their eyes on the flag, their minds on the great history that is, as citizens, a part of us.  No, throughout the song, one can hear laughter and jokes and curses to get on with the game.
        On September 11, 2001, we were attacked.  And that is a tragic thing.  Neighbors, friends, and family were torn from our lives and America is now forced to live with that regret.  It cannot be changed.  However, the retaliation method that we chose may not have been the correct one.  Some may even call it barbaric.  After the pain and suffering that we as Americans had to go through, could we not understand and relate to the pain of those in another country?  Apparently, for the greater half of us, that was beyond our reach.  We chose to bring war to another country, and cause them some of the same suffering that they had caused us.  Words were not enough, and the tactic we chose was violence.  Fighting fire with fire only gives you ashes.  We entered another country to cause them the pain we had suffered, based on a lie.
        The two parties of this great nation are at opposite ends of the spectrum now.  It is now difficult for the two to combine and rule the country effectively.  It is now difficult for compromise to be made, a founding basis of the Constitution.  This divide not only weakens our country and our unity, but is also exactly what the original leaders of this land sought to avoid.  The freedom that America's founding fathers took such care to protect, is threatened every day by a policy called the Patriot Act.
          I can no longer say that I'm honored to be a part of this country.  Through war, prejudice, and division, the illusion has lost its luster. I hope that others, in the same situation as me, will take heart, and hope for a future that renews the spirit and true strength of America.  And I can hope that as the administration changes, and as this war ends, and as a new generation becomes part of this country, that the nation will be cleansed, and once again, we can all have an America to take pride in.