Independent Thought

Independent Thought: (For this, I'm going to be using the words progressive and conservative rather than a political party). 237 years ago, this country declared its independence from Great Britain, but where are we today?? It was the progressive colonists who wanted freedom from the English Crown, and the conservatives wanted the status quo. In the mid 1800's it was the progressives who wanted all people to be free, and the conservatives who wanted to keep men in chains. In the early 1900's, it was the progressives who gave the woman the right to vote, and the conservatives who fought that right. In the 1930's, progressives saw an end to child labor, passed work safety laws, passed a minimum wage, established Social Security - and the conservatives fought all of them. Skip ahead to the 1950's and 1960's, progressives fought and died for Civil Rights laws for our African-American brothers and sisters, while the conservatives fought them with hoses, hangings, dogs and bullets. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, women were becoming liberated and won control over what they can do with their bodies, while the conservatives still believed in the concept of "barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen." At the end of the 20th Century, our LGBT brothers and sisters began to search for equality, and it was the conservatives who passed laws to keep them as second class citizens.

Here we are in the 21st Century and we see how the conservatives wanting to tear down every progressive ideal that has been implemented - and for what? A return to dirty water, a return to raping of the lands, a return to people without a roof over their heads and empty stomachs, a fear of someone who might look different from you, a fear of someone who might love someone that might be of the same gender - and the list goes on and on... It was the progressives who moved this country forward and the conservatives to try to pull us back into the abyss. I strive to see this country shining brightly - a beacon for other countries to admire. We should not be at constant war, we should not have homeless people, we should not have hungry people, we should not have under-educated people, we should not have separate but equal, we should not base things on the color of someone's skin or who they might pray (or not pray) to. We are United, We are Free, We are Americans and should act like it - not treat each other as enemies. There is always a common ground, but someone needs to find the courage to step towards it. We all have that light within us, some may have it turned off, some might have it on dim, but it's up to each of us to turn it up and let it shine brightly within each one of us!!! The Time is right and the time is now!!! Happy Independence Day 2013!!!