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November 5, 2004

A parable

To love America

“We go forth all to seek America. And in the seeking we create her. In the quality of our search shall be the nature of the America that we created.”
Waldo Frank

When I was a boy, I was taught to believe…
I was taught to believe that America promises a fair shake and that anyone can become president. That America guarantees free elections and the rule of law and delivers on those promises. My mother and father assured me that, in America, justice is just, and that, in America, all things are possible. My school taught me that, in America, no one is better than anyone else, that an egalitarian society is possible, here and now, and that the will of the people is heard. My school taught me the pledge of allegiance… with liberty and justice for ALL!

I believed the promise that, at the end of the day, there was fairness and equality. I believed that justice would prevail. I believed in America because it promised so much to so many. And I was told a thousand times that America is the greatest country on earth. That we have the best of everything, that our country is number one. That we are the chosen ones of history.

And, in loving America, I learned to ignore that which was not in harmony with her promises. I, like you perhaps, ignored the litany of broken treaties with native Americans as ancient history. I believed that the causes of poverty are the fault of the impoverished. I ignored the root causes and history of terrorism in the world and assumed that “they” just hate us for our freedom.

I watched corporate criminals, who defrauded millions, get their wrists slapped and gave only a moments notice. I was grateful for my meager tax cuts and looked the other way when social services deteriorated. I enjoyed my comfort and my stuff and refused to believe that my country had overthrown the democratically elected governments in Iran, and Guatemala, and Chile, and Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, and Fiji. Not America.

I shopped at Walmart and Target and Kmart and marveled at how inexpensive the good from China had become. I ceased shopping downtown. I eagerly ran up my credit cards to their limit and contentedly immersed myself with my favorite television shows. I worked more hours and so did my wife just to stay even and watched my neighbors lose their jobs, but oh, how I hated the unions. I saw the practice of lying become high art and gave not a whimper of protest. I went to church and prayed for my country but did not vote. I took my kids to soccer practice and football practice and watched sports on the weekends, and caught the evening news once in a while. I loved America and I thought I was living the American dream.

But now I am out of work living on unemployment and my wife has left me. My son dropped out of college because he couldn't afford tuition and works down at McDonalds for minimum wage. My daughter joined the military to earn money for college. She was killed yesterday in Iraq.

I don’t understand what went wrong. What was I to do? I thought of myself as a good American. What happened to the birthright that I was promised. Why were my dreams taken from me?

Johnny Peaceseed