BEFORE the next July 4th!
Before the smoke totally clears from another Independence Day, it may be useful to reflect on what I hope we can learn about our democracy before the next July 4th celebration. Here are just a few of my top items. I would appreciate hearing about some of yours too.
· We need to struggle on behalf of a more truly independent and courageous press before our First Amendment rights are further diminished.
· We must find a way to get behind “official speak” from our political leaders to real communication about issues and events that affect our nation’s future.
· We need to insist upon more open and public disclosure about what is really happening in
· We must begin an open national discussion of our policies regarding
· We need to have our government establish a true national priority on research on alternative energy systems for transportation.
· We need to find and then campaign day and night for candidates who are intelligent, courageous, and willing to speak the truth on behalf of their constituents rather than follow the easy path of soft money.
· We need to give the real hope of
· Finally, we need to shine that torch once again on the “wretched refuse” we once welcomed to our shores, those lost in the tempest of the rhetoric about “illegal” aliens. They may just be our hope for the future.
I want to be proud again to “lift my lamp beside the golden door,” as Lady Liberty once did.
posted by Merle F. Allshouse at 5:12 AM
1 Comments:
You rightly call attention to "the growing number of Americans who are shackled by poverty, lack of health care and poor educational systems". After more than two decades in the United States, I lived for 18 years in England (until 2002), which like many other European countries, has had a Welfare State for six or so decades: largely free medicine funded by general taxation, extensive public housing, inexpensive university education, huge investment in public transportation. At the same time, there seems to less and less money for these services, and the growing belief that the private sector is better at giving value for money and achieving efficiency. By contrast, the United States has had a sink-or-swim attitude in these matters, the belief that one has to look after oneself, a greater emphasis on individual initiative and self-reliance. The problem therefore seems to me to be one of convincing the general public that the people who are left out have been excluded for no fault of their own, that they in fact have done all they can for themselves, and that the public therefore needs to step in. It is, as I see it, a matter of education, which includes the presently marginalized. If they can convince others that they are not looking for hand-outs, only for legitimate opportunities, a lot of Americans who are now skeptical, may well be prepared to act on their behalf, though I agree that the affluent have a greater responsibility in this matter.
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