Hating America: College Students Just Don't Get It

 

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” These words, which preamble the governing document of the United States of America, are timeless. Our founding fathers knew, through dealing with the British Monarchy and a trained eye on history, that a government for the people and by the people could be the only just government. They recognized that, through a natural law of man, that we are all created equal and endowed with certain rights. This principle, which was best put into words prior to America’s Revolution by the philosopher John Locke, is the lifeblood of the United States. The world need recognize that the concept of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is America itself. To attack America is to attack those very rights themselves. So then why is it so common to ask a college student their thoughts on America, only to have them reply that America is a vile and disgusting place that they cannot wait to leave?

My concern is not with the dissent itself. As the founders explained several times in their writings, a free people are able to have an opposing opinion to that of the government, which if functioning properly, is the opinion of the majority of the citizens which form and comprise the government itself. My concern lies with the fact that these students do not seem to understand what the function of government is supposed to be. In college we are taught of the atrocities of America. We are told that America is a racist country which views women as unequal, starts wars for profit, and that it must be fundamentally changed in order to destroy the evil entity it has grown to be. The problem is that fundamentally, America is a country governed by its people to promote their liberty and well being. To change that would be to place our rights, which we lend to the government to share in the convenience of a society, into the hands of tyrannical, power hungry law makers. Has history taught us nothing about giving up our rights to an all powerful ruling body?

The heartbeat of a revolution begins in the people. It was the people of America that stood up and shouted that we are all equal time and time again. It is not the government that freed the slaves or gave women the right to vote, it was the people that control that government that accomplished those things. Students need to recognize that we, the people, are in control. Do not hate your country for what it is, but cry out to the people who have let it become what you despise. Use the principles that America was founded upon to let your voice be heard. To say that you despise your country and want to leave it would be equal to cutting out your own tongue and silencing your opinion. If there is a noble and just cause in the hearts of the people of America, then that cause will be heard, but not if we lose sight of the true nature of America, a country that has entrusted its citizens with the ultimate goal, self governance.

Do not let our vehicle to bring about change be driven by someone else. Do not let our government become a body that rules us, instead of power that we control. We have been given the power within our constitution to carry the torch of liberty onward, to correct social injustices which defy the laws of nature, and to promote the betterment of mankind as a free and reasonable people. Is this what you hate, or is it really that we have lost control of our government? If it is the latter, which I hope for the sake of mankind it is, then I ask you this. What have you done to improve upon the well being of our society? Are you the ones saying there is nothing that can be done? If you are, then you are truly missing out on what it means to be an American, because being an American is to be free. If we, as Americans, feel our government is acting against the will of the people or committing injustices, then it is our responsibility to fix it. The answer will never be more government, but will always lie in a more active people. So, do you hate America and what it stands for, or do you hate your inability to control the government which represents you?