Because...
I love America.
Though there are growing parts of it that I love less and less, I love America. Not for all the vagaries and travesties it has wrought throughout its history, but for the ideals of freedom it represents.
And, selfishly, I love America for the personal benefits that I have enjoyed from that freedom (I know that not everybody has, for all kinds of reasons — choices they’ve made; choices that others have made — and that tarnishes my enjoyment).
Both its great ideals and amazing beauty are wonderful to behold.
In many ways now, I am afraid for both. Values seem to be overtaken by the power of money. Perhaps, it has always been this way, but it seems like it is getting worse. Though some people have always treated others badly, it now seems fashionable to do so.
The common good seems more like an after-thought at best. People seem myopically focused on their own needs and no longer seem to consider how those are met, at least in part, by the things we gain from a common good point of view. Leaders seem more energized by personal gain through the manipulation of the common good than the ideals of them overall. Serving the common good seems to have been completely reconfigured.
Sacrifice for the sake of others at one point seemed emboldening; now it seems to be passé.
As my recent posts reflect, it is easy to point out the prevailing fallacies of our time. But, I love America and want to be a part of promoting its ideals even more.
The America I love...loves each other.
The America I love...looks out for the disadvantaged.
The America I love...values differences.
The America I love...invites people to a vision for all people.
The America I love...does not promote fear.
The America I love...protects what is good.
The America I love...acknowledges where real power comes from.
The America I love...works at unity (not uniformity).
The America I love...honors sacrifice for the benefit of the common good.
Does any of this seem like what is happening now? Well, not really, but if we can just get all these immigrants out of here.... Seriously?
I'm getting together with friends and family today and doing many of the things we have all come to enjoy about the innocence of our freedoms. I will eat hotdogs and ice cream, drink a beer, throw water balloons and...wave a flag for America (pics to follow).
But, in the back of my mind, I will wonder (even fear) if what I love about America is actually still here...for the common good (or even for me).
