My American Creed

People should use their mastery of their minds to create a better life for themselves. In essence that ideal embodies the American dream. When I think of the American creed a few buzzwords pop into my head, entrepenure, strength, support, and diversity. These words all represent actions or describe actions that are vital to living a well-rounded American life.

The first word that I thought of was entrepreneurship. When people picture the American dream they think about immigrants coming over to America and starting their businesses to support their family and rise through the classes. In today's society, I think that is still a large part of the American spirit but it holds a different meaning to a kid like me. In entrepreneurship, somebody risks putting themselves at fault if they fail. To me, that means something like reaching out and making friends with a new person, or even taking the risk to put a lot of time into a sport that could be spent elsewhere. While those things aren't quite as serious as putting financial costs on the line failure will still hurt. To follow my American creed through action I believe it is vital for people to put themselves at risk of failure.

The second word that pops into my head is action through strength. Personal strength is the ability to follow through on decisions that have been made. I see too many people say things like "I'm going on a diet" or "I will start reading more" and make no changes in their lives to do so. To be an American is to make things how you would like them to be through change. For example, many people are unhappy with the current state of politics yet, when I worked the polls for the primary elections there was only a 25% turnout rate. To say that you want something different and to make no change is against my creed. Action must be taken (which requires personal strength) if a different result is desired whether that be reading, going to the gym, or even simply spending more time with your family.

The third word that comes up with my creed is action through support. To the point made about politics earlier, America is a time of division not seen since the Civil War. The split through politics is preventing many people from being friends or even acquaintances. Part of being American is recognizing diversity and accepting it as a part of our nation. I am not saying that we should not be divided, opposing viewpoints are vital to driving well-thought-out policy, but we should not hate the opposing side of the political spectrum but support the discussion that the division brings to the table. It is vital to my creed to seek out opposing views and support their thought process through stimulating discussion.

The final word that popped up was diversity. Diversity is not so much an action as it is an ability to experience new things. People from our country have all different backgrounds and quirks. I have found it to be a personal hobby of mine to talk with people who lead very different lives than me. When traveling to a major city instead of going on my phone I might start a conversation with the person next to me on the subway. It is these interactions that make the diversity of America so special and useful.