Unity in America

I hate reading and watching the news today. I still do it because I want to stay informed, but it is no longer something I look forward to, and I never enjoy doing it. It is like a chore. It is almost all inflammatory, usually either pointing out the latest scandal of President Trump ( although lately they just play a broken record of old ones) or talking about how egregious the actions of the opposite political party are, or talking about how awful everyone is to everyone else. Everything they say seems to be there to divide the people of America. In politics, the two main parties seem to push farther apart, and are enemies to each other.

Instead, I believe we need to come together. Compromise is the only way we can fix many of the serious issues in our society. We, as a country, are too hostile toward each other. Currently, there are 4 white supremacists running for state congresses. Many are also anti-semitic, some even denying the Holocaust. They want to slam the things that many people have fought for since the foundation of our country. Men fought and died for it during the civil war, Martin Luther King Jr. died for his work, and many people continue to fight to this day. These white supremacists have received thousands of votes in past elections, but they are not even close to what this country needs. When we work together, we all gain. Things cannot get done in our country without compromise, and these men do not at all plan to help people and lift us all up.

Instead, we need to follow positive examples of people who lift up and unite people across our country and around the world, like Martin Luther King Jr. He worked hard to make sure that all people share the same rights in our country. Although his work cannot truly be considered finished, he is an example of how great people can be, and what we all need to strive toward. He worked to make sure that all Americans shared the same rights, rights that many people consider the bare necessities for freedom. People like him are why I’m proud to be American. His ideals show what I believe it is to be American, coming together to help everyone be lifted higher. Leaving one person behind with nothing only drags us all down, and we can never really go anywhere while discriminating against a large minority of people.

One problem that I see in our society is that most people tend to think of themselves more as a part of smaller groups like religion or ethnicity, rather than just American. This creates a vicious cycle in which people are discriminated against for not being American, which makes them more likely to stay in their cliques. People need to try to break boundaries, and be ready to embrace new ideas.

Another serious problem that our country faces is a lack of compromise. Our congress bickers between themselves without end. Anyone who is willing to work with the other party is viewed as a traitor. People don't think of different political parties as people with different beliefs, they think of them as enemies. This makes it extremely difficult to pass any sort of legislation, because everyone says my way or the highway.

If we truly want to live in a peaceful America, we need to learn to work together. All it seems that people want to do is fight, but that really has not solved any of our problems. Our only choice is cooperation. People need to remain open to new ideas, and be ready to embrace change, and the first step to that is to get involved. Make a phone call, write a letter to a congressman, or join a protest. Whatever you want to do to get involved, if you want to see change, you have to do it.