We as a nation are undergoing a transformation. It’s difficult; it’s devastating. But it also may be a necessary transformation that our country desperately needs. Today, we stand on the brink of the greatest depression since the Great Depression. Many are faced with a difficult choice. Do we continue to live beyond our means, or do we start appreciating what our means can get us? It is a fact that we, for the most part, have chosen our fate. In the end, it’s not the banks, or the economy that have failed; it’s not a poor president, it’s not a war, it’s not even an election. We have failed each other. We have lost something over the years. Perhaps it’s the American spirit. The statue of liberty reads, “"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." Where is that yearning? Where is that desire; that will to have complete freedom and opportunity? We have become comfortable and most of all, we have lost sight of what is important.
Recently, I have been watching movies that center around the Great Depression. Films like “Cinderella Man” and “Seabiscuit.” There’s something in those movies. There’s something in those people, that generation. That is the something we have lost. I, more than most, am guilty of that loss. How many times have I sat back and wanted; instead of looking around at what I have? But it’s more than an outlook, it’s a revolution. It comes down to one word: Sacrifice. Has this generation, me included, ever sacrificed? I would take a stab, and probably would hit flesh to say that most who attend my school, have not sacrificed. Fathers used to go without food so their children wouldn’t stave. Now, we feel like if we go without our Starbucks, we cannot make it through the day.
The Lord’s Prayer, “Give us (God) this day our daily bread,” our daily bread. What does that mean? Simply, we are asking God to give us enough, sustain us, so that his glory can shine out through us. Looking around, I see that God has supplied me with more than my daily bread. In fact, my bread could feed a family of four. My father owns a small business. He has worked since the age of 16 and has never stopped providing my family and me an opportunity to succeed. Indeed, he has given me a chance, an opportunity to be better than he ever was. He has sacrificed; yet I have not. Instead, I have asked for more, and have expected more. I have asked and asked and asked. I am a product of this generation; selfish, comfortable.
I can’t help but think we deserve this. We deserve this depression we are so recklessly hurdling toward. We deserve the mess that will undoubtedly come over the next four years; we deserve the mess of the last eight. We deserve to be brought to our knees. We deserve to have everything stripped, everything stolen away. Our freedom, our money, our lives. Perhaps this new frontier, this new depression is necessary. What will it take to wake us up? The answer cannot come from policy, or a leader, it must come from within. Only within can we change. Maybe this country is doomed to fail. They say Democracy only lasts a hundred years, and we are living on borrowed time. But I don’t think so. I think we can endure. I think we are stronger than all who came before us.
One day, America will not be known as the land of opportunity, but it is not this day. Today, we are still the land of the somewhat free, the land of honor, and the land of promise. There will come a day when lady liberty does not welcome the poor, the wretched, and the meek; there will come a day when American values dissolve completely. There will come a day when democracy fails. The day may be close, but it is not this day. Some say the sun has set on this grand nation. Some say we cannot regain the respect of other nations. Some say we are lost. But it is not this day. Today, we are still strong. WE have strength to overcome this.
After 9/11 this country bound together. Americans can no longer live in a great society without sacrificing something for it. Our fathers sacrificed, my father sacrificed, is still sacrificing; his father… and his father. Today, it is our turn. We must take up the torch and carry on. Men have fallen, men have bled, and men have died. There is no one left to help us, no one left to take up the call but us. I feel it necessary to bind together once more, to stand up once more. Dedication: the giving up wholly or earnestly to some thing or purpose. I am dedicated to this country. I am dedicated to cleaning up the mess’s that have come and that will come. I am dedicated to this country. The question you must ask yourself is, are you?
