A Call to Patriotism

I am fearful for our country. As I watch current events play out in the newspapers every morning, I feel helpless. Such monumentous and detrimental changes loom on the political horizon, and because I am too young to vote, I am utterly powerless to stop them.

Every time I glance towards Washingon, our government seems to grow just a little larger, to grasp just a little more of our daily lives, and to deprive us of just a little more of our freedom. This concept is terrifying to me because as John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, in 1775, "A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."

We as a nation, are far too apathetic. We surrender our liberty far too easily. Has America moved so far from her rise to rebellion that we have forgotten what price was paid for our freedom? Are we so blessed that we can no longer fathom the true value in our "experiment in self-government"? Because we have simply been handed "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness," we are unable to comprehend the depth of their worth.

Our founders and framers would be sickened by the state of society today. When Patrick Henry declared "Give me Liberty, Or Give me Death!" he was expressing his undying belief that liberty is more precious than anything else we could ever be granted. Henry could not have been more right, yet here we stand, willing to sacrifice our liberty for next to nothing.

So this is my plea to you, a call to patriotism. Let us return to the principles upon which America is founded, that we may equip ourselves for a fight to restore America to her former glory. As Langston Hughes so eloquently expressed, let us "Let America be America again, the land that never has been yet."