My Responsibility To America

The United States of America has a rich history filled with success, failure, courage, and drive. Millions have come seeking the “American Dream” and to live in the land of the free. The past is what has shaped this nation’s present and future. Yet, as time drifts, the world around us changes. What was once deemed acceptable can now seem outdated in today’s society. The recent 2016 Election was controversial and showcased just how divide our nation has become. The results of the election surprised many who believed there was no possible way Donald Trump would be elected president. This unraveled tension was met with uproar and confusion. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote whereas Donald Trump won the electoral vote, thus making him the President-elect

In the current political environment, the question “What does it mean to be an American” is one that really caused me to think and reflect deeply. And while some are vowing to “Make America Great Again”, I think there are already a number of things that already make America great and make me proud to be an American. Early on, our founding fathers suggested through the Constitution that at its core, what it meant to be American was simply “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That’s a fairly simplistic notion and the focus of my essay explores whether this literal interpretation can still apply in today’s more complex society or whether being an American requires more than that.

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” That one sentence changed my life, those thirty one words altered my decisions, the words “liberty” and “justice” shaped my future. To some, freedom, liberty, and independence are benefactions; others view them as excesses. But to me, those words signify duty, honor, and country. Everything granted to us is not free, we have to earn each and every aspect of the objects we have in life. In order for the people of this country to continue to relish the freedom and independence America stands for, one needs to stand out and sacrifice their time and effort to preserve it.

Thomas Jefferson wrote, ''Determine never to be idle...It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.” In this quote Jefferson perfectly sums up life. Life and time should not be wasted by inactivity but instead should be spent with/on productivity. The purpose of life is to live and to be industrious. By constantly being active a person can accomplish many tasks and possibly goals. Being industrious and productive leads to performing well in life. Life has a time limit and therefore one should not waste it by being idle or unproductive.

In America, we are given freedoms and our basic human rights. To make sure these freedoms such as free speech are kept, we as Americans have responsibilities to America. Whether it be in our everyday lives serving in our community or special occasions when serving on a jury, Americans are held to these responsibilities to keep the United States to the standard that it always is. Our basic responsibilities are to pay taxes and vote in elections, however, they extend far greater than those.

On January 20, 1961, former president John F. Kennedy orated his inaugural address at the United States Capitol. Kennedy’s deliverance highlighted his prospective presidency, enumerating key issues such as: economic expansion, social advancements, and new diplomatic relations. Consequently, it was here, when Kennedy questioned his audience one of the most historically-acclaimed quotes in United States history, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. Kennedy, the youngest president our Nation had ever seen, beautifully defined civic responsibility. Civic responsibility lets the individual discover and internalize their own potential and allows the individual to assist others to do the same. Therefore,

If Between the World and Me was viewed as a book saturated with hopelessness, Coates’s most famous essay regarding reparation “The Case against Reparations”, regarding incarceration “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration”, and regarding the president “Barack Obama, Ferguson, and the Evidence of Things Unsaid” would most likely deem him a cynic. Coates begins The Case for Reparations by stating, “Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole”. This essay, stirred so much attention because for a while, no one has spoken in such a hopeless, despairing and bleak

America is a “land of living hope, woven of dreams, aflame with longing and desire” people who come to America come here to get a better life or career. Most people who come to America for a few years think they are Americans because they wave a flag, but they don't know the true meaning of what it means to be and American. An American is someone who will die for it’s country, someone who emigrated here for more opportunities, and someone who is encouraged by the history of America.

Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life. - Anne Roiphe

“Death is a distant rumor to the young” (Rooney). The idea of death is often an afterthought to individuals. One does not simply wake up every day of their life and contemplate their own passing or that of another. “The Road Out of Eden”, a short story written by Randall Grace, is about a group of children that face torment from a bully. The children make a rational decision to end their suffering by murdering the bully, their first encounter with death. The story can be contrasted to “The School”, written by Donald Barthelme, which is about elementary students that encounter death on a regular basis. The common occurrence of deaths range anywhere from simple trees to intricate humans. “The School” and “The Road Out of Eden” showcase how the concept of death reflects fear and uncertainty on individuals evidently through the themes of innocence, grief, and acceptance.

Moment: “He twisted and thrashed around like a fish, back bowed and belly up, and when he got to his feet and shook himself a spray came off him in the moon like silver scales.” Pg 164

You left your family and friends into a bloody war you could of died but you didn’t mind. You took your life for mine. You made things in life better then if you didn’t go into the war. My papa went into the war and he made it out safe. Those stripes and stars in our flag came from you. You saved many lives on the other side of the battle field. You chose to leave behind your loved ones and your life to die, make it home safe, or to have major injuries. Some people don’t care about the Veterans. But I care about veterans and all the people writing these essays.

Being responsible to America can be achieved in multiple ways. From voting to serving in our armed forces you can be responsible in America. Being in the military is one of the highest responsibilities to America. You can be responsible by doing small things. There are many benefits to being responsible.

Imagine being unable to walk, unable to speak, unable to move and unable to breathe. Imagine being in a state of complete paralysis where the only thing that keeps on functioning is your brain, and you live chained to a machine doctors call life support.

I wake up dazed looking at the streamed bleak space-grey eyes, staring back into me, forgetting every word they 've ever said, their faces buried in sadness, only to be smothered in a window of blinding light. Moments pass, I turn listening to the dark hearts beat trembling the ground beneath me, crashing against the Shores of the Forgotten, standing on the hills of this ancient cage, looking for an exit- endless rows of articularly made columns, weathered but resilient. And there I stood, Hopeless, stranded. If I bleed you won 't miss me at all, but I promise you that I will be there to watch you fall. An empty and lonely world, telling me to leap into your darkest memories, to live in your lives, to experience your pain. The Feeling of your suffering, knowing your most sinster thoughts. Why? Because my job is simple: clean up your memories if you loved it and if it were to be pure, I make it seem brighter, happier. But, usually, I make you struggle to stay afloat in the darkness inside of