What it is to be American

Readers, this blog is inspired today. It's a thought would not get of my head last night. That's not a bad thing. Far from it. It's easy to say that you're an American. Have you ever thought what it means though? Being American boils down to blessings and responsibilities.

First, the blessings. When you woke up this morning, did you feel safe? Did you feel like you were in any danger? Of course not. Today, we live without fear of persecution. You are free to be whatever you want in America. You can believe in any religion you want, have any political ideology, and within the bounds of the law, do whatever you want. This country is great because of those reasons. I believe that we live in the greatest nation in the world today because of these reasons. Despite of what the political situation is, I believe this is still a great country. No where else in the world do you have the opportunities that you have in America. Anyone, and everyone has a chance to be great here. By residing in this great nation, you've been given a gift. It is a sacred, inalienable gift that guarantees you a shot at anything you want to do. It pains me to people, especially it's own citizens complain about this nation. We've been given so much. How can you possibly complain? You can complain about the politics, you can complain about a lot of things. But it's inconceivable to me why someone would ever want to live somewhere else.

Now, the responsibilities. People argue that we as Americans have too much. We've been given too much, and I disagree. It is an inheritance. However, this inheritance isn't without conditions. We can only depend on this inheritance for so long. It's up to us to renew that inheritance generation after generation. If America is to continue to exist, it is our responsibility to do this. It's also our responsibility to try enable others to have a shot at this type of gift. If we can give a person or a nation the gift that we enjoy in the same way we earned it, then it is our duty to do so. Ronald Reagan said that freedom is always a generation away from extinction. If we don't try to give the rest of the world that gift, then that generation will come sooner, rather than later. He said that freedom isn't passed on in the bloodstream. It must continually be protected and renewed.

It's not easy to be an American. Far from it. We must continually defend the freedoms we've been given. But the rewards of being an American are great. I will always be proud to be an American. It's a quality I hope to pass on to my children, not through the bloodstream, but by educating them of these facts. I hope this blog has been informative, if not inspiring to you to write what you feel it is to be an American.

Until next time, I'm that Conservative College Guy, and we are America.