September 14

Blog #111 – America, to me…

As part of our Constitution Day celebrations, we’re asked to take a moment to think about what this great country means to us personally.  For some of us, it might be hard to sort through all of the noise and craziness that seems to flood our news outlets and media.  But that shouldn’t stop us from taking a moment to discuss why America is great.

America was the first constitutional democracy in the modern world.  We were founded on principles (taken from the Declaration of Independence) of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The Constitution was founded in 1787 after our initial government didn’t work.  It was founded on principles of the rule of law (everyone is equal before the law no matter how rich or poor you are), the separation of powers, a representative government (where we elect people to make our laws for us), the separation of powers, federalism (each level – national, state, or local – has a say in how we live our lives), and individual rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights.

Our country’s ideals are things like justice, the common good, equality, diversity is our strength, truth, and patriotism.  I feel that sometimes we don’t live up to these values, but as it says in the preamble to the Constitution, “in order to form a more perfect union…”, we as Americans need to continually remind ourselves of our core values and beliefs and hold each other accountable when we fail to live up to those high ideals.  No one is perfect, but we’re trying to get there.

Your job: Tell me what America means to you.  Be specific.

300 words minimum.  Due Tuesday, Sept. 18 by class.  

Image result for America

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Posted September 14, 2018 by geoffwickersham in category Blogs

56 thoughts on “Blog #111 – America, to me…

  1. Dominick Stoops

    America is a land of freedom and free thoughts. It is a place where you can be safe and spread your ideals. To me America is an amazing place, it’s a place where my I can be free and express who I am. My family came to America in the 1950s, it is a safe place that they went to when war broke out in Iraq. It’s a safe heaven to me. Although it’s always being talked about in social media as a terrible place it’s not to me. It was a second chance to my family to live freely, and it makes me want to live freely. There are flaws in America, but there are flaws everywhere and I’d rather be in America than anywhere else.
    When my family came to America they were going back and forth between Iraq and America. One day Iraq banned the use of having dual citizenship so my grandparents had to decide which country they would go to, at this point my mom and her siblings were born in America but brought back to Iraq when they were very young. My grandparents decided to comeback to America and start a life here. If my grandparents didn’t make this decision to come to America I don’t know how my life would’ve turned out, I don’t even know if I would be here. But everyday I’m reminded how lucky I am that they did.
    America is a fresh start, and a free land. To me in America you can mold your character into anything you want, like an empty page in a huge book, you can write who you want to be. I’m proud to be American, like I’ve said America has flaws, but I’d rather be here in a country where you can fight for what you believe in than a place where you’re not allowed to. America is an astonishing land where you can be speak freely and be free, to me America is home.

  2. Evan mondora

    America to me is a place of freedom to do whatever you want, freedom to say whatever you want, freedom to believe whatever you want, freedom to go where ever you want and freedom to own a firearm. These things are evaluable in other countries in the modern day but still not everywhere. Since America had gained independence more and more countries have wanted to become more like the United States. More free just like the United States. But in modern day United States of America and other countries some these freedoms are being excessively taken away. Free speech is continuously being censored an example of this being info wars and Alex Jones being banned from YouTube and twitter because they say thing the liberal media doesn’t like. Today if you say something that isn’t politically correct on social media or the internet you could be fired from your job. Political correctness takes away the right to have free speech. If somebody disagrees and is offended by what you say even if it’s true, they could go to the media and call it “hate speech” even if it isn’t, today the media will use this Fake “hate speech” to push their political agendas, and anybody who disagrees with they will demonize removing the freedom to say whatever you want. Today there are many organizations pushing to remove the second amendment and take away firearms owned by law abiding American citizens. If these organizations were success full in removing fire arms nothing would stand in their way of removing every other freedom we have which is why the second amendment is the right to protect your freedom. In America and the rest of the world there is a growing divide between the right and the left this is a problem because a house divided against its self cannot stand, which means there is a internal and possibly global conflict rising, for the sake of future of the united states this much change otherwise it could potentially be a disaster for this nation.

  3. Mecca Terrell

    To me, America is a place that needs some work, but has great potential. Over the last decade or two, America has definitely improved in terms of development. This applies to social, economic, and political circumstances. Over the last few years, the government has been trying to make America a place where everyone feels welcome, whether it’s legalizing gay marriage or fighting for women’s’ rights. And due to efforts like these, our nation has been modernized to the point where the government can focus on creating a better future for its citizens, instead of trying to fix the past.
    But unfortunately it’s been become more difficult to create a better future, seeing as over the last two or three years, America has illustrated a future that its citizens aren’t sure they want to be a part of. Citizens have began to fear that with every step that’s taken forward, three more steps back are taken. Issues that plagued our society seem to have become evident in recent years: issues such as police violence against African Americans, school shootings, and even deportation of immigrants that grew up here are scaring citizens into believing that America isn’t as safe and secure as their thought.
    But even though our nation is struggling to keep up with these issues, I can still see its potential. I still believe that with the right mindset and good execution of well thought out plans by the government, America will be able to rebound from these hard times and thrive. In order to do this, the government not only has to think about the needs of the country, but about the needs of the people living in this country to make any notable changes. Our country has been built upon the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, meaning that this country should be a place where people are able to receive a second chance. So with that being said, I believe that it’s about time that we give our country a second chance.

  4. Nicholas Skinner

    America to me means home, it’s where I was born, raised and were I currently live. It’s been home to my family ever since my family immigrated here in the 30’s from Italy, Poland and Ireland looking for a better life. The first few years were hard, especially during the depression, but we moved forward and now we are here. My family members were able to build a better life using the economic freedom that is in america and the creation of jobs that followed WW2. America also means to me freedom to say, print, tweet, post or believe anything you want(freedom of religion). It’s these freedoms that make America such a wonderful place to live. I am able to practice my religion without opposition from the government. I’m also allowed to criticize the government without going to a gulag, prison or hard labour camp. If i do not like the current government when i’m old enough i can vote to change it. This way of governing allows everyone’s voices are heard and so that we are not taken over by dictators(Communist and Fascist alike) or by monarchies. America has great potential but also has many problems. One of those problems is the growing racial divide because people still like to judge someone over their race, religion or ethnicity. America’s infrastructure also needs some work as well. Problems aside i believe America has a bright future ahead of it. I’m glad to see the government investing more into space programs and related research as this is the right way to go considering the effects of climate change and earth’s population increase. Another great thing about America is i’m free to travel to wherever I wish whenever I wish allowing me to explore the world and other cultures. All in all America isn’t perfect but has great potential and a bright future.

  5. Peter Manion

    America to me is symbolic of freedom. There are obvious issues with the country, but compared to everywhere else we are given far more freedoms. If you look at other countries, even Britain, we have many more rights. Britain for example violates peoples freedoms of speech and has also banned guns. Those are two basic freedoms we hold in the US. Britain banned memes, which while everyone makes jokes about it, a meme can be as basic as the spread of an idea. If Congress tried to do this in the US it would be a dead bill so quickly because it violates our first amendment rights. The people here in the US care about their freedoms. They care about the pursuit of happiness and they care about being able to do what they love to do. That’s what makes this country great. However, I also think that it’s strong enough to argue that America isn’t great because people are denied these freedoms regularly. How are you supposed to be able to have any kind of pursuit of happiness when you’re born in a ghetto and denied it? Donald Trump and I would disagree on what makes America great. He wants to revive the American dream, but then does nothing to help the least wealthy of the country, he instead helps people who are already rich. That doesn’t sound like the American dream at all, but he claims he wants to bring us back to where people who are talented and work hard can excel throughout their life. Not everybody gets a chance at the American dream, and I don’t mean an equal chance, I mean some people don’t get any chance at all. So while American represents freedom for me, I think we still need more steps to take in order to reach freedom for all people. However, I have hope that America will finally be able to reach that at some point.

  6. Ted Schwartz

    America to me is an amazing, yet at times problematic nation. America is truly built on blood, sweat, and tears. While many of the founders of our nation were bigoted, cruel and greedy slave owners and abusers, many key people in establishing America were hard working, honest men and women who struggled to make America a better place. While it took some time (and could still use a little more) America has been shaped into a wonderful place. Generally speaking, the U.S is a place where the people all have their natural rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, many groups are currently being denied rights, and have been for the past 240 years. There is a lot that needs to change in America, but there is also a lot that makes the nation great. America, throughout history, has been one of the strongest powers of the world and is currently economically one of the most powerful nations of the world. America is, for the most part, a place of security, both economically and physical safety. A large portion of America’s budget is spent on the military which supports this feeling of security. One thing that contradicts this feeling is how America’s own government paid police officers and immigration control who are not put accountable for their hateful and unfair actions towards African Americans and illegal immigrants. America is generally a great place to live, but due to the split between the Democratic and Republican parties, there are contradicting ideals making it difficult to express positive or negative feeling towards it. While you may, for example, stand by the freedom of speech in the constitution of our nation, American society often takes away said freedom. You may think the government does not support the poor enough, there are still many laws and legislation that help the underprivileged that no other country has. While I have plenty of problems with this country, I am still proud to call America my home.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*