Freedom From Fantasy

On the 232nd Celebration of its Independence, Americans need to re-evaluate the enormous disparity between what they profess as their ideals, and what they actually practice. They need to examine the conditions under which independence was gained, how it has evolved, what it represents realistically, and why it has brought the country to its current state of disarray and divisiveness. Americans need to determine the true extent of the erosion of its economic, political, and military powers as compared to the emerging states of the east; and to breakaway from the state of denial in which they have wrapped themselves so forcefully, that has imprisoned them into a world of fantasy.

Americans are inherently a good and decent law abiding people. They are a patriotic and proud race who built a nation through hard work, ingenuity and perseverance. But over the years, a complacent attitude, borne out of being the mightiest, strongest, and most prosperous country on the planet has crept into the national psyche' which they continue to believe and rely on as constant and unchanging. Yet change has taken place, but there seems to be a refusal to acknowledge this. They cling to the old notions of what the country was and work towards realizing their dreams on the basis of that non-existent notion. And here they find disappointment. Americans are capable of many things, and surely they are capable of overcoming entrenched attitudes that are rooted in hate, fear, insecurity and doubt, to get closer to their ideals. They need to extricate themselves from the fantasy of their existence.

What does independence mean when the country is dependent on foreign oil, and the most "powerful man on earth" has to belittle himself dancing arm-in-arm with the Arabs begging for oil? What is the price of independence when 80% of consumer goods are imported? How can prosperity be proclaimed when it owes other countries trillions of dollars where the major portions are held by its former communist enemy China and its ambivalent Middle Eastern allies; where its budget deficit is 3 trillion, its currency in constant decline, its citizens losing their homes to foreclosures - saddled by debts and without savings; its manufacturing and construction industries experiencing job cuts for 6 straight months; and its infrastructure falling apart? If it is the land of the free, how can a country with 5% of the world's population have 25% of the world's prisoners? If it is the home of the brave, then why is it so scared of a lone African American or a powerful white woman who will work within the framework of a constitution it has proclaimed to trust and believe in? How can a nation be free when its mind is imprisoned by intolerance, bias and prejudice?

The United States ironically, is bitterly divided and polarized by racial discrimination, religious differences, political segmentation, and socio-economic disparities. This is increasingly evident as the election draws near. Yet no concrete steps have been outlined for its resuscitation. It needs to find its voice, the one that echoes the true ideals for which it was founded, and from there remove all the iron bars that have embedded the attitudes which hinder moving in a single direction for the benefit of its people as a nation. Not as a party, not as a political segment, not as a race, not as a quest for unfulfilled glory; but as a country of good and honorable men and women. It must understand that all the freedoms it espouses are equally applied to all people all over the world. And, the first of these that it should achieve today is freedom from fantasy.

Haaarrrrwwwwwk...Twoooooooph...Ting!