America, it’s the country most of us residing here will say we love, and we believe that to be true – usually, because it is, but how do we do love our mother country? It isn’t our patriotism that is currently tearing America apart – it’s the way in which each of us has been led to believe we must show that dedication.
We’ve mentioned before here at Chatterbox that when my kids were little, they would say that grown-ups sometimes “say hard words.” They were right. Grown-ups say the hard things that no one wants to have to say, or hear, and we say hard things with words which are only used in tough spots. Today, Americans are using hard words a lot to say many things that can be said more productively.
We also spin our wheels a lot, saying lots of hard things that don’t need to be said, because, regardless of which side of the political spectrum we’re on, the only real way to show patriotism is to do the hard things that turn those hard words into common progress. Without compromise and productive, collaborative action for progress by everyone and for everyone, all the hard words and their energy are just drama and demonstrative ego.
We each think we know what the right path to show support of this country is, but democracy has no right path. It only has the path people with different ideas and motives agree to take – together – to achieve a compromise that’s somewhere between two desired destinations.
Any destination that serves any of us personally can’t be best for the nation at large. Our best America requires each of us to constantly modify personal goals until the concessions result in the betterment of the whole country. If only the squeaky wheel got the oil, soon enough the other three wheels seize up and the forward motion stops. Nations are the same in that forward motion. What is good for only one person, group, type, color, religion, or nationality of people isn’t good for the country.
Our country’s collection of many different people has always given us the advantage over other nations. It’s given us the benefits we have, because each heritage contributed its unique history, strength and school of thought, giving us the benefits of all. Let’s never forget that our diversity weaves the high thread count cloth that makes America strong. It’s what creates the complex matrix and singularity that is only us.
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