Over the past several months (or decades…okay centuries), citizens in the United States have done a lot of bickering. The topics of the fights have covered everything from arguing about Arizona’s SB1070, to the Healthcare opinion by the Supreme Court, to whether or not cats are better than dogs.
Despite all this, it’s important to remember that not everyone in the world, and certainly not everyone in history, has lived in a country in which you could voice your disagreement with the government. But we do, and, regardless of where you fall in the political spectrum and regardless of whether or not you support SB 1070, or Obama’s healthcare bill, or whatever political machination you get wrapped up in, just remember that you live in a country designed to let you complain, get active, and voice your opinion without being persecuted. It may be a system run by imperfect people, but it’s set up to advance and protect everyone’s bests interests.
So, today, on Independence Day, just take a moment to remember and thank all those that worked hard or risked or sacrificed their lives to bring us a system built around checks and balances and designed to allow people to speak out, to vote, or to impeach people that do the wrong thing. It might not be perfect, but it’s a system for which I am grateful.