July 4th, United States Independence Day
Today is the day we celebrate our independence from the tyranny of the Kings and Anarchists. The day we declared our independence as a nation. We prepared documents creating a democracy with lofty goals of Justice and equality for all. We built this nation on the talents and strengths of people from all countries and all walks of life — immigrants.
As we celebrate this day, we need to remember our roots.
The Statue of Liberty
The full name is "Statue of Liberty enlightening the world," which represents the roots of our country. The Statue goes hand-in-hand with the story of Ellis Island, where 12,000,000 immigrants entered the US. We built this country with these immigrants and their descendants, but we seem to have forgotten this today. As a result, our light is dimming, and our grand ideals have been tarnished by our last decade. It's time to rekindle the flame and make our light shine bright worldwide.
Justice and Equality for All
Justice and equality for all were two tenants of our founding fathers embodied in the Constitution and Bill of rights. Unfortunately, we seem to have forgotten these ideals as our justice system is skewed to the rich and powerful, and equality works only for white citizens. Females were recently dealt a disastrous blow in the Supreme Courts' decision on Roe v Wade. It's time for all to work toward the ideal of justice and equality.
The changes to the Justice and police needed are
- Public defenders must be well paid by the state, so everyone has an equal chance at Justice.
- The police need to become less militarized and more public-focused — I know this is a lot to ask.
- Mental health has to become a priority for our country, so the police don't have to deal with mental health issues.
Our justice system requires reform, as do each of the pillars of our government.
Equality is the hardest one to solve and will probably take many generations. But we need to start.
- Recognize that every person is a human being to be dealt with equally.
- Focus on understanding the divisiveness of our dualistic view of the world. — (right and wrong, good and bad, categorizing people based on the color of their skins, etc.)
Changes Needed in Our Governance
- Term limits for congresspersons and senators. We should limit them to two terms to create a governing body that focuses more on the people than staying in office forever.
- End the Senate filibuster rule. The purpose of the Senate isn't to stop laws when their party isn't in power; it's to work together to find common ground on laws for the common good of the people.
- Make gerrymandering illegal. Gerrymandering or drawing election districts, so your party has an advantage is contrary to representing all the people, the role of the elected.
Let this Independence Day be a reminder of why our country exists, the ideals that we were founded on, and our need to get back on track as a thing light in the world.
