Land of freedom-discurso viejisimo!

In the past years, if not centuries, America has been considered a “Land of Liberty”; a country in which people have choices and their voices are heard. Its population has the right to elect their government. There are opportunities knocking at every door, and there is always a chance of success in one way or another. America is the best country in the world. Or is it? Are the choices and opportunities in America reserved for only a certain kind of people? Is the freedom in America only in benefit of a few? Are the leaders in America chosen by the majority of its population or by people who already have power? Although America has a lot more freedom and resources than other countries, are the ignorance, paranoia and arrogance in a lot of its population destroying what the country was based on?
Americans in general have a black and white view on everything from political parties to beliefs and values. This view is inspired and supported by the government and corporations that in many ways control our outlook of the world. The newspapers and TV seem to be working hand in hand with the government to convince us that America is “on the side of the angels”; the only way for America to continue fighting is to believe that they’re doing the right thing (D’Souza 717). That a “few deaths” are necessary and shouldn’t be a big deal if they are going to save a majority of people. As long as these people are not Americans, it is justified. Why? Perhaps for the same reason that people worry more when pretty rich white girls go missing than when poor black girls go missing.
America believes that it solves all of the world’s problems. Other countries can’t govern themselves without its help and structure, even when these other countries had been around centuries before America was even discovered (Beveridge 711). The world is very small now, and only free when it comes to money. America is the Empire and in this sense all of the other countries depend on it. There have been discussions about initializing Free trade agreement between America and other countries (mostly Latin-American) so that there are not as many fees and there’s no monopoly in the Latin countries.
However, this isn’t fair. For instance, if a small country wants to sell potatoes to America, it needs to buy machinery from America first. And then all the chemicals developed by Americans to grow the potatoes. Then wait for them to grow, and pack them yet again with other machines from America. Sometimes pay fees to American companies to help them with this. And then ship them to America so the public can enjoy great quality potatoes. But not many people will buy them, because the cost of producing them and shipping them was so high that the consumer price will be high too. And people in the Latin countries will buy the potatoes grown in America, because it was cheaper for Americans to grow them and ship them. And they’ll create more varieties while they’re at it too. So Americans think they’re doing the best thing for the world, but in reality, the benefits are only for the United States of America’s economy.
For many Americans, this fact is, if not unknown, all right with them. There’s a sense of “I deserve” to justify the things they want, whether they need them or not, and to take them. This is a spoiled child attitude of whining instead of rationally analyzing the situation. But why should people pay any attention into finding the truth, if the “truth” presents itself everyday in the form of happy skinny women skipping down the street because they bought a special brand of shampoo, or men who are suddenly more attractive and interesting because they have a certain kind of car. And that everyone is in need of some sort of medication. The truth that is presented in America is that the only way to be happy is to buy things, to buy things quickly, to get everything quickly. And we are ready to embrace a reality like that. But what’s really going on, we’re not ready for: the part of losing everything quickly.
Americans themselves are destroying their real freedoms by not questioning the reasons of the decisions made in their name. To support the Patriot Act and allow the government to spy on anyone suspected of being or supporting a terrorist, or anyone with a criminal background, even misdemeanors; “for safety” (Williams 794) is ludicrous. And in the government full of secrets that we have today, do we really need them to know a lot more about us? To monitor our activities without even letting us know? Even if we have nothing to hide and had not done anything wrong, the government will find something or there could be a misunderstanding and what happens next depends on your luck. Wouldn’t that be a sort of witch haunt?
If we agree to spend so much money on weapons rather than education, if we conform enough to care more about reality shows than reality, if we do not stand together, WE WILL FALL!
But how should we find the balance between how much of individuals and how united we should be? The government doesn’t really care for people and doesn’t promise to protect them in case of a disaster. The primary instinct is to protect one’s family only because no one else will, but it doesn’t have to be this way; one of the values that this country is losing is the fellowship between neighbors. A neighbor used to be someone you could count on and now, if you know your neighbors at all, there is either little or no communication or a unspoken fight for who has the better things. These reactions are caused by fear. For the past years we have been shown by the media to trust no one, to believe that there is no good in our world and that anyone and everyone could harm us. And we portray that image too, an image that repels neighbors because we don’t want to deal with them and we hope to create a fear in them to approach us too. Unless people have been neighbors for a long time, there is no trust in the neighbor.
The best way to fight fear is not to ignore it, but to confront it with courage and faith. Faith in the causes you care for, faith in liberty for all. Faith in the candidates you have the power to elect to represent you instead of lingering in a political party that you’ve been labeled on. Most importantly, have faith in yourself and the change that you can create. Realize that what you should fight for is not for the past and the things you could lose, but for the future and an authentic cause; you’ll experience a thrill down your spine that nothing on TV could ever replace; life. If in all of our busy schedules, we could just take a moment to remember this, perhaps we’d be happier, and truly united, for all of us humans everywhere are ought to fight for inner peace and freedom.
If we fight for individual rights, if our government becomes representative instead of corporative once again, if community by community we unite again, we will win.
Works Cited

Colombo, Gary, Cullen, Robert, and Lisle, Bonnie, Ed. Rereading America. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.
Beveridge, Albert J. “The March of the Flag” Colombo, Cullen and Lisle Ed. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.709-716.

D’Souza, Dinesh. “America the Beautiful: What We’re Fighting For” Colombo, Cullen and Lisle Ed. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.716-728.
Williams, Patricia J. “By Any Means Necessary” Colombo, Cullen and Lisle Ed. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.794-798.