America the Precious

 

Precious: Of Great Value or High Price

 

There was once a place that people, downtrodden by their oppressive and ineffective  governments, looked up to.

They dreamed of this place… They heard stories of its beauty.

Its majestic lakes, mountains and fields of farmland as far as the eye could see

Of its bustling, energized cities with buildings that touched the sky

Of its people with a driven, warm, humorous and charitable spirit

Of its wealth.

Of its safety and security

Its citizen rights of protection from an oppressive government…..

But like most fantasies or stories they did not know about all the shortcomings of this place.

Perhaps it didn’t matter much to them, for they understood in their wisdom that no place is Utopia.

That all countries have their dark side.

That what mattered was the system of fair governance

Based on individual rights

Protected by a cherished constitution.

They knew its history of independence based on this powerful, world changing declaration:

That all men are created equal.

They understood this is not a reality…. but an ideal.

IDEAL: EXISTING AS A MENTAL IMAGE OR IN FANCY OR IMAGINATION ONLY

An ideal that is in the process of being pursued and realized.

And as the words state: the equality is in the sense of all “men” being endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights:

  • Life
  • Liberty
  • Pursuit of Happiness

How attractive is that!!!

Of course, they knew of our history of practicing and then resolving the dreaded institution of  slavery. But most understood a few things about slavery.

Its has existed everywhere in the world.

THEN AMERICA CHANGED

We fought a Civil War that ultimately held our country together

And

We the People…Ended Slavery [for each soldier killed in battle 6 slaves gained their freedom and the union was preserved]

We amended our constitution to give

Constitutionally abolish Slavery

Grant full citizenship to former slaves.

Codify Voting rights

But the South persisted in their practice of superiority and supremacy over the former slaves… defying a complacent federal government and denying these legal rights to millions of black Americans

For Generations

And then, nearly a century later, our government lost much of its moral authority by the revelation of many facts including:

1. The way it conducted the war in Vietnam and the truth of Americas arrogance in Vietnam

2. The revelation of its persistent tolerance of  social and institutional oppression of blacks nationally but most intense in the South..

THEN AMERICA CHANGED AGAIN

Our federal and state governments legislated numerous laws,  acts and policies to aggressively correct its moral deficiencies [There are thousands of federal laws addressing civil rights, equal opportunity, equal justice, etc.  [ ]

We have expanded the IDEAL of the founding to include not just “men” as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

NOW THE ENDOWMENT INCLUDES ALL CITIZENS!

This National redirection has resulted in the unending collective national pursuit of:

1. Human Rights

2. Civil Rights

Such that now we have a country where black Americans hold positions of

POWER AND AUTHORITY IN:

1. Corporations

2. Politics

3. Law

4. Education

5. Commerce

6. Business

QUESTION:

Are we continuing to pursue the ideal of delivering on the promise of our founders?

ANSWER:

Yes

QUESTION:

Are there AMERICAN CORPORATE, INSTITUTIONAL,  AND POLITICAL FORCES aligned to undermine and discredit the Founders and the legitimacy of OUR American Project?

ANSWER:

Yes

QUESTION:

WHY???????????????????

 

Why do Those from other countries

who still dream of living in a place like America

Continue to risk their lives to be a part of our Project..

They see the beauty

The Promise

The Hope

The Truth

America is Great because it faces its Weakness

And strives to enhance our union

Our Promise

Our Ideals

By Changing Course

to find

Solid Ground

A Place of Strength

Diversity has Value

But our greatest strength and our saving grace is

A Spirit of Unity and Pride

Where that which is Precious

and Imperfect

Can retain its

Value and Beauty