The United States of America.
Right wing politicians speak as if America (the USA, in this case)
were something that is just there, and as if all we had to do
was to get out of the way and enjoy it, for free.
A nation is not just land. It is not just owning a pickup and a gun.
A nation is a covenant. It is an agreement. A nation is to share
something in common. It is to say, "we, the people".
It is impossible to say, "I hate to pay taxes", and to be a nation.
It costs something to be a nation. Nationhood is the affirmation
that we have something in common, that it is ours, that we are it,
and that we will make it as good, and strong, and fair, as we believe
it is, and ought, to be. We, the people, are the United States of America!
We want to educate our children, and we want parks and lakes.
We need roads, and airports, and clean water, and good food.
Our nation needs good order, and to be able to defend itself,
because we are a people, together, who share this place and these ideals.
If we want to, we will put people up on the moon, to see what is there.
We will save great expanses of the land so that we and our children
can see what tall prairies are, and what forest are before they
are made into tree farms. "Those," we will say, "are wild elk,
and that is a great upland desert." It costs to become a nation.
It is impossible to be a nation, and to hate to pay taxes,
because nationhood costs, and sometimes it even costs lives.
It is a shameful nation that finds it easier to send its sons and daughters
to die than to pay the taxes that are needed to support the nation.
"Go die, but let me get mine! Pay for your own education
and health care and life after you are too old to work!"
Our right wing patriots, our right wing libertarians, our right wing
flag wavers and race mongers aren't patriots. They aren't
nation-builders. Nation builders, like the people who wrote
the Constitution, commit their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honor to becoming a people, together, in this place.
Freedom is not free. Freeloaders do not make a nation.
There are costs to be a nation. There is great pride! This is us!
Right wing politicians speak as if America (the USA, in this case)
were something that is just there, and as if all we had to do
was to get out of the way and enjoy it, for free.
A nation is not just land. It is not just owning a pickup and a gun.
A nation is a covenant. It is an agreement. A nation is to share
something in common. It is to say, "we, the people".
It is impossible to say, "I hate to pay taxes", and to be a nation.
It costs something to be a nation. Nationhood is the affirmation
that we have something in common, that it is ours, that we are it,
and that we will make it as good, and strong, and fair, as we believe
it is, and ought, to be. We, the people, are the United States of America!
We want to educate our children, and we want parks and lakes.
We need roads, and airports, and clean water, and good food.
Our nation needs good order, and to be able to defend itself,
because we are a people, together, who share this place and these ideals.
If we want to, we will put people up on the moon, to see what is there.
We will save great expanses of the land so that we and our children
can see what tall prairies are, and what forest are before they
are made into tree farms. "Those," we will say, "are wild elk,
and that is a great upland desert." It costs to become a nation.
It is impossible to be a nation, and to hate to pay taxes,
because nationhood costs, and sometimes it even costs lives.
It is a shameful nation that finds it easier to send its sons and daughters
to die than to pay the taxes that are needed to support the nation.
"Go die, but let me get mine! Pay for your own education
and health care and life after you are too old to work!"
Our right wing patriots, our right wing libertarians, our right wing
flag wavers and race mongers aren't patriots. They aren't
nation-builders. Nation builders, like the people who wrote
the Constitution, commit their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honor to becoming a people, together, in this place.
Freedom is not free. Freeloaders do not make a nation.
There are costs to be a nation. There is great pride! This is us!
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