Who is a real American?
| By Peter LaBarca |
October 6, 2003 |
Who is a real American? There is no one definition of what an American should be.
There are many properties of Americanism created at its conception, altered during its
maintenance and an inherent ambiguity in the design. However, some things remain constant.
There is no stopping, stalling, catching your breath, or waiting for a future that is exploding in
your face, literally.
The notion of bigger and better dominates our motivational momentum. Booms and
busts are our only social cycle. There is no gradual acceleration or decline allowed. We go up
like rockets and crash like meteors. We build and we are involved in destruction on a massive
scale with precision never seen before. We can split the atoms as we can split countries and
people, recombining them in a different configuration.
Quite often this does not produce the results that we want, but with each try we are more
careful and we gain success. I hope we can also gain the wisdom to know when to and when not
to take such actions. The United States is the most powerful country in the world because of a
handful of individuals who run the country. These authorities are chosen by those who are
industrious and those who are lazy, by the rich and the poor, the sane and insane, the righteous
and the criminal. You, the people, choose them. Make the most out of your choice.
The very essence of fairness is the coal that burns in our mental furnaces. We all want
fair from the very beginning. Our founding fathers as they are called wanted to do away with the
idea of autocracy but could not do away with the idea of a class structure. Those walls were
broken down in centuries past as all walls are knocked down, from the very physical wall of
Berlin, to the conceptual wall of the Iron Curtain. Even the Great Wall was not so great, though
today it serves as an important symbol for its people.
An American can be anything he/she wants - good or bad, social or reclusive, wealthy or
poor, based on ability or by fortune. We are one country under God with life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness except when not applicable, not popular, in wartime, and not available in all
areas. In other words, we're not perfect. We never said we were but the idea is that we pursue
perfection - an equal society.
People! Grab the reins of society and make us great. It is up to each one of us to do his or
her job. You know the good and the bad you can become. The structure is there although all the
jackals will try to hold you back. Break free with restraint, be ambitious yet modest. The
structure of our society is equal and free even if our facade remains decayed and uneven. The
inside must be built up first. Be all you can be and it will become obvious within the country and
throughout the world.
Copyright © 2003 by Peter LaBarca
Print this page
E-mail this page
Your Comments
Recent Guest Essays
