I was sitting in the guest lounge of a car dealership watching highlights of McCain and Palin’s speeches at the Republican Convention and had a giant reality check, not in terms of what I thought about the candidates, but the way the American public looks at politics. A middle-aged man with a thick, billowing accent from some Latin country insisted watching these hopefuls made him sick to his stomach and with a laugh said he couldn’t stomach anymore.
I am no stranger to the nausea invoked by the news barrage featuring never-ending political mud-slinging and false promises. I have traveled and lived abroad enough to have been harassed simply for being an American in a Bush presidency. I understand the habitual selfish ways and unnecessary drama surrounding American politics in general and the negative stigma surrounding the Republican party after eight years of the Bush administration in particular, but what I don’t understand is the attitude of some of the American people.
I come from a family of immigrants. All my grandparents came from other countries to the United States for two very simple but glorious ideals: freedom and opportunity. And that is what they have found here. They found a country free from religious persecution and tyranny. They found a home where any man or woman had the ability to accomplish his or her dreams if they were willing to work for it. The founding fathers of this great nation had such a clear vision that I know my family understood and valued because it meant a better life for them and their children. As I child I grew up listening to the love my grandparents and great-grandparents had for America because they were willing to leave everything but the clothes on their backs behind for the chance to pursue a better life, liberty and happiness.
The more I travel, the more I feel a childlike appreciation and awe for the simplicity and beauty of our constitution and the laws of my great country. I say great, not because it’s perfect or that no improvements need to be made, but because of anywhere in the world I know the laws of my nation enable me to have the many freedoms I enjoy and so many take for granted as American citizens. And I wonder as such a proud nation of immigrants, why so many transplant here from abroad for a better life, then complain about all America lacks and show more pride in their country of origin than their adoptive home. Furthermore, how many of these individuals actually do something to remedy the very issues they criticize about or to better their new home or community?
In my Generation Y, and more and more in Generation X and my parent’s baby boomer generation, I’m seeing a trend towards an egocentric sense of entitlement and an interest in the “now” over having the perspective or thoughtfulness of looking at the bigger picture of past, present AND future. As much as I think my grandparent’s generation is overly conservative, they are onto something.
Perhaps we can learn from all these generations and meet somewhere in the middle. I think the McCain/Palin ticket can bridge that gap between invaluable tradition and conservative legacy of old and the necessary progressive adaptation and advancement of our modern, changing world.
Studying history, we can learn from the failures and triumphs of the past and we can dream about the future in order to create a better country, but let us create a better nation not just for ourselves, but for future generations. With every advantage at our fingertips as part of one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations on the planet, let us not be an island unto ourselves, let us continue to reach out and assist other countries in need, let us continue in our tradition of military strength, challenge ourselves in creating more advanced technology and pharmaceutical innovations, do our part in conserving the planet and very importantly to focus on the areas of our country which need improvement.
I may not agree with every single policy of McCain’s, but this is a man who gets it. He understands the meaning of democracy in its truest form: a government of the people, for the people. I believe him when he calls himself a public servant as a politician and not because I’m naïve or believe everything I see on TV, I think someone needs to earn trust and he has set a proven track record his entire military and political careers as someone committed to serving the greater good of America, even when it’s unpopular or at a great personal cost to himself. America needs more than change we can believe in, we need a candidate we can believe in and I believe that candidate is John McCain.
One opinion I do happen to share with Obama is that America is in desperate need of change, I just don’t agree with his solutions. My fellow Americans, especially my younger generation, let us look beyond ourselves and this present and dare to impact the world and our country for the better. Let us cease complaining about all that we lack or could improve on as a nation and let us unify as Americans to be the change we want to see in the world.
I am no stranger to the nausea invoked by the news barrage featuring never-ending political mud-slinging and false promises. I have traveled and lived abroad enough to have been harassed simply for being an American in a Bush presidency. I understand the habitual selfish ways and unnecessary drama surrounding American politics in general and the negative stigma surrounding the Republican party after eight years of the Bush administration in particular, but what I don’t understand is the attitude of some of the American people.
I come from a family of immigrants. All my grandparents came from other countries to the United States for two very simple but glorious ideals: freedom and opportunity. And that is what they have found here. They found a country free from religious persecution and tyranny. They found a home where any man or woman had the ability to accomplish his or her dreams if they were willing to work for it. The founding fathers of this great nation had such a clear vision that I know my family understood and valued because it meant a better life for them and their children. As I child I grew up listening to the love my grandparents and great-grandparents had for America because they were willing to leave everything but the clothes on their backs behind for the chance to pursue a better life, liberty and happiness.
The more I travel, the more I feel a childlike appreciation and awe for the simplicity and beauty of our constitution and the laws of my great country. I say great, not because it’s perfect or that no improvements need to be made, but because of anywhere in the world I know the laws of my nation enable me to have the many freedoms I enjoy and so many take for granted as American citizens. And I wonder as such a proud nation of immigrants, why so many transplant here from abroad for a better life, then complain about all America lacks and show more pride in their country of origin than their adoptive home. Furthermore, how many of these individuals actually do something to remedy the very issues they criticize about or to better their new home or community?
In my Generation Y, and more and more in Generation X and my parent’s baby boomer generation, I’m seeing a trend towards an egocentric sense of entitlement and an interest in the “now” over having the perspective or thoughtfulness of looking at the bigger picture of past, present AND future. As much as I think my grandparent’s generation is overly conservative, they are onto something.
Perhaps we can learn from all these generations and meet somewhere in the middle. I think the McCain/Palin ticket can bridge that gap between invaluable tradition and conservative legacy of old and the necessary progressive adaptation and advancement of our modern, changing world.
Studying history, we can learn from the failures and triumphs of the past and we can dream about the future in order to create a better country, but let us create a better nation not just for ourselves, but for future generations. With every advantage at our fingertips as part of one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations on the planet, let us not be an island unto ourselves, let us continue to reach out and assist other countries in need, let us continue in our tradition of military strength, challenge ourselves in creating more advanced technology and pharmaceutical innovations, do our part in conserving the planet and very importantly to focus on the areas of our country which need improvement.
I may not agree with every single policy of McCain’s, but this is a man who gets it. He understands the meaning of democracy in its truest form: a government of the people, for the people. I believe him when he calls himself a public servant as a politician and not because I’m naïve or believe everything I see on TV, I think someone needs to earn trust and he has set a proven track record his entire military and political careers as someone committed to serving the greater good of America, even when it’s unpopular or at a great personal cost to himself. America needs more than change we can believe in, we need a candidate we can believe in and I believe that candidate is John McCain.
One opinion I do happen to share with Obama is that America is in desperate need of change, I just don’t agree with his solutions. My fellow Americans, especially my younger generation, let us look beyond ourselves and this present and dare to impact the world and our country for the better. Let us cease complaining about all that we lack or could improve on as a nation and let us unify as Americans to be the change we want to see in the world.
