America, It is the “land of the free and the home of the brave” and we have completely lost our minds. This is singlehandedly the greatest, yet most controversial, country in the world. We are in dire times for change and unity. In the last 15 years, there has been more innovation and progression than ever before, yet the differences and the lack of comparison between similarities in one another have destroyed us. The harboring of hatred and stubbornness of this country, if continued, will doom us of our future before climate change ever will.
We live in a time where there is either right or wrong and nothing in between. Families are being split apart by deportations, people are dying by gun violence, women are losing rights to their own bodies, racism is back like it never left, and a generation of kids are growing up fearful of their future. The greatest country in the world is where I am fearful to live. Problems are being swept under the rug for the next generation to clean up. America is an amazing country. The opportunities and advantages of this country grant its citizens are unlike any other country in the world. Every 15-20 years this resurgence of extreme polarization causes everyone from family members, politicians, and random strangers, to argue over who is right and who is wrong. Our country is split and what we as people can do now is to listen to each other, understand each other’s point of view, and respect one another as if we are one family forced to live under the same roof.
My parents were refugees, Fleeing years and years of oppression and communism from a country that no longer wanted them. They were stripped of everything they knew of; their home, their family, and their way of life. They came here for the American dream; a land where you are free from persecution and could create the life you always dreamed of living. My father abandoned home and entered refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines until he was granted asylum and came to San Francisco. My Mother also going through these refugee camps, sometimes spending 6 months in a foreign country until she was finally allowed to come to New York. They came here for a better future, to someday raise kids of their own and to own their own business. They understand that America is and can become great again, if we educate our youth, work hard to all prosper, and develop our underdeveloped regions. I am the byproduct of two people who have courage and compassion greater than anyone could imagine. If America can accept two complete strangers into their country, why can’t we accept one another for what we are already worth?
We are living in a modern-day renaissance. This renaissance can either end like a chapter out of a George Orwell book or end like an episode of The Jetsons with shiny flying cars. It is up to us to determine where we want to head. This is only a snapshot of our life, what we decide to do in the future starts here and now. Alexander Hamilton said that "We either stand for something, You'll fall for anything." Use your voice and your ears; have compassion and understanding. What a better time than now to be heard.
I hope you are right about the cyclical nature of this time, and that we will swing back to more harmony, and hopefully learn from the past.