Dear America,
As I awoke this morning a heavy thought kept weighing me down, I am a 43 year old single mother of two, I was born here in America and my children are ages 19 & 14. As I lay thinking of them I realized that their lives as Americans is going to be hard. I am a patriot, always have been always will be, what I mean by that statement is I have believed the core of being an American is to care for our country as well as the people in it. Now today compared to even fifty years ago is a vast difference, our country has grown and thrived, but as we have become a leading nation, our peoples thoughts and actions have changed. We are a selfish nation, a nation who would rather watch our neighbors struggle than to lift a finger or ask if there is something we could do. We are uncomfortable knowing our neighbor is struggling, but we do nothing. I don't know the exact date our culture decided it was better to only think about themselves instead of others and it doesn't matter, the fact is that once in our glorious past we were all immigrants to this country, no matter where we came from, we were now Americans and that meant something. There was a such a feeling of pride to say I am American, now the world looks to us and they see us for what we are, spoiled, selfish, bratty children.
Can we change this tide of ungratefulness, yes but in this digital age it is going to be hard. The next leaders of our country are self-absorbed to say the least. No longer do parents tell their children what an amazing gift it is to live in this country where we are free to believe in what we want, where you can pursue your dreams to your last breath. No, now we tell them, you deserve better, you deserve to be given everything. You don't have to work hard, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. Well as an adult you have to do lots of things you don't want to do. Instead of preparing our children for adulthood, we are allowing social media to cripple them with social awkwardness and allowing them to not confront life. I have never meet some many young people who are unable to hold a conversation with regard to current events or any worthy topic. Social Media platforms are not fully to blame, as a nation we have allowed ourselves to believe it is better to text each other than to discuss issues face to face. We have become cowards who hide behind our electronic devices.
I look to the future for my children with hesitance. There are jobs but as more and more "American" companies outsource jobs overseas I worry about job security in this country. How as "Americans" we continue to patronize companies who outsource jobs whether it be IT support, customer service or production of almost everything we buy to other countries is beyond me. Do you know why our country was so profitable at one time, it was because 99% of what American's bought was made in America, which means the money we earned stayed here. Now 90% of what we buy is made in other countries, which means our money is not staying here, so no wonder we are struggling as a nation. Now I work in business and I can already hear some of you saying well it is too expensive to do produce the same product here. That is a crock, the fact is that if you really wanted to you could, yes the labor is higher (hence the fact to go to other cheaper countries is very enticing) but people don't even question where a product is made anymore. It is sad.
Yesterday evening I was at a convenience store and I heard someone in the store say "I can't find a job, all these Mexicans are coming and taking our jobs, they need to go back to where they are from". I was incensed by this ignorance. Supposed "American's" say the Mexican people are only coming to get free money from our government, and there could be some instances of this, but the real reason the Mexican people are coming to the U.S. is because we are too good to do the jobs they are so willingly to accept. There are some in our country who were born here who would rather accept Welfare than to do the same job the Mexican people are doing because it is below them. When did any job become below us, is it because we are ingrained now to think we are better. I am on of seven children and looking back I believe my parents struggled to feed, clothe and shelter us, but never did I hear my parents say, well I am not taking that job because it is too menial. No it was the opposite, my parents taught me life wasn't about what job you have or how much money you made it was about who you were, how you treated others and how you helped your community. A job doesn't define who you are, your actions do.
We all gripe about the deficit to our country but no one is willing to stand up and say stop the spending in other countries, no one wants to be the bad guy and say we need to get ourselves back in order before we can help others. We have been known as a caring nation in the past and I believe we strive to be that way today, but the fact is that there are other countries out there taking advantage of that fact. We have people in our own country who are struggling to make it day to day, when did those people become less important than those we don't even know. We have homeless children and adults who need assistance. Yet our government has allowed them to continue to struggle so we can help other countries who really don't need any assistance at all. We need to stop trying to be the amazing country who will help anyone and everyone, we need to say hold up, we have our own countrymen who need mental health assistance, medical help, job training......but no let those who live within these American borders suffer because we need to give billions of dollars away to countries who don't need it. What are we thinking, we are not and most of us go everyday leaving our government unchecked. We are the United States of America, not the few men and women who are sitting behind desks in our Nation's capitol, they have been chosen to speak for us and they are inept to do so. So it is time for us to stop sitting on our couches thinking these few men and women are going to make our country what it once was.
Stand up, because if you don't the country you think you love so much will no longer be a free nation, we will be tied down to all of the restrictions that continue to be passed as law. I am not saying we need to revolt, but I think these politicians have been complacent in the fact that our country is not really pressuring them to vote one way or another, so they are doing whatever they want. The reason our government was setup the way it was so they would be our voice, but the only voice you hear is theirs. Don't let another day go by without our government hearing the rumble of our voices, they have no choice but to listen. Stop thinking of only ourselves and there is no way our country can't change to be a better place.
JAWS
As I awoke this morning a heavy thought kept weighing me down, I am a 43 year old single mother of two, I was born here in America and my children are ages 19 & 14. As I lay thinking of them I realized that their lives as Americans is going to be hard. I am a patriot, always have been always will be, what I mean by that statement is I have believed the core of being an American is to care for our country as well as the people in it. Now today compared to even fifty years ago is a vast difference, our country has grown and thrived, but as we have become a leading nation, our peoples thoughts and actions have changed. We are a selfish nation, a nation who would rather watch our neighbors struggle than to lift a finger or ask if there is something we could do. We are uncomfortable knowing our neighbor is struggling, but we do nothing. I don't know the exact date our culture decided it was better to only think about themselves instead of others and it doesn't matter, the fact is that once in our glorious past we were all immigrants to this country, no matter where we came from, we were now Americans and that meant something. There was a such a feeling of pride to say I am American, now the world looks to us and they see us for what we are, spoiled, selfish, bratty children.
Can we change this tide of ungratefulness, yes but in this digital age it is going to be hard. The next leaders of our country are self-absorbed to say the least. No longer do parents tell their children what an amazing gift it is to live in this country where we are free to believe in what we want, where you can pursue your dreams to your last breath. No, now we tell them, you deserve better, you deserve to be given everything. You don't have to work hard, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. Well as an adult you have to do lots of things you don't want to do. Instead of preparing our children for adulthood, we are allowing social media to cripple them with social awkwardness and allowing them to not confront life. I have never meet some many young people who are unable to hold a conversation with regard to current events or any worthy topic. Social Media platforms are not fully to blame, as a nation we have allowed ourselves to believe it is better to text each other than to discuss issues face to face. We have become cowards who hide behind our electronic devices.
I look to the future for my children with hesitance. There are jobs but as more and more "American" companies outsource jobs overseas I worry about job security in this country. How as "Americans" we continue to patronize companies who outsource jobs whether it be IT support, customer service or production of almost everything we buy to other countries is beyond me. Do you know why our country was so profitable at one time, it was because 99% of what American's bought was made in America, which means the money we earned stayed here. Now 90% of what we buy is made in other countries, which means our money is not staying here, so no wonder we are struggling as a nation. Now I work in business and I can already hear some of you saying well it is too expensive to do produce the same product here. That is a crock, the fact is that if you really wanted to you could, yes the labor is higher (hence the fact to go to other cheaper countries is very enticing) but people don't even question where a product is made anymore. It is sad.
Yesterday evening I was at a convenience store and I heard someone in the store say "I can't find a job, all these Mexicans are coming and taking our jobs, they need to go back to where they are from". I was incensed by this ignorance. Supposed "American's" say the Mexican people are only coming to get free money from our government, and there could be some instances of this, but the real reason the Mexican people are coming to the U.S. is because we are too good to do the jobs they are so willingly to accept. There are some in our country who were born here who would rather accept Welfare than to do the same job the Mexican people are doing because it is below them. When did any job become below us, is it because we are ingrained now to think we are better. I am on of seven children and looking back I believe my parents struggled to feed, clothe and shelter us, but never did I hear my parents say, well I am not taking that job because it is too menial. No it was the opposite, my parents taught me life wasn't about what job you have or how much money you made it was about who you were, how you treated others and how you helped your community. A job doesn't define who you are, your actions do.
We all gripe about the deficit to our country but no one is willing to stand up and say stop the spending in other countries, no one wants to be the bad guy and say we need to get ourselves back in order before we can help others. We have been known as a caring nation in the past and I believe we strive to be that way today, but the fact is that there are other countries out there taking advantage of that fact. We have people in our own country who are struggling to make it day to day, when did those people become less important than those we don't even know. We have homeless children and adults who need assistance. Yet our government has allowed them to continue to struggle so we can help other countries who really don't need any assistance at all. We need to stop trying to be the amazing country who will help anyone and everyone, we need to say hold up, we have our own countrymen who need mental health assistance, medical help, job training......but no let those who live within these American borders suffer because we need to give billions of dollars away to countries who don't need it. What are we thinking, we are not and most of us go everyday leaving our government unchecked. We are the United States of America, not the few men and women who are sitting behind desks in our Nation's capitol, they have been chosen to speak for us and they are inept to do so. So it is time for us to stop sitting on our couches thinking these few men and women are going to make our country what it once was.
Stand up, because if you don't the country you think you love so much will no longer be a free nation, we will be tied down to all of the restrictions that continue to be passed as law. I am not saying we need to revolt, but I think these politicians have been complacent in the fact that our country is not really pressuring them to vote one way or another, so they are doing whatever they want. The reason our government was setup the way it was so they would be our voice, but the only voice you hear is theirs. Don't let another day go by without our government hearing the rumble of our voices, they have no choice but to listen. Stop thinking of only ourselves and there is no way our country can't change to be a better place.
JAWS
