By Caleb Garcia | Photographer
It is not unreasonable to say that America is in a crisis.
The headlines we see every day come right out of a “South Park” episode. It’s a new case of corruption, violence or injustice that arises seemingly every day. Culture wars plague our conversations and technology. American citizens are being deported en masse without due process, common laws are being overstepped with no consequences and innocent people are being shot by federal agents ordered around by a felonious president.
What was once a steadfast and resolute public institution has now lost the American people’s trust. The government is made up of systems that prosecute the poor and empower the cruel. It’s been lost to corporate sellouts and foreign influence, by cowardly politicians who would do anything to stay in power instead of benefiting their constituents. Federal agencies have become weaponized and have fallen from the shining stalwarts of justice that they once were.
Most appalling of all, the Department of Justice just published thousands of files, emails and photos related to disgraced New York financier Jeffrey Epstein, blatantly exposing sex trafficking with several of America’s biggest names involved. The craziest thing? There has been hardly any outrage or real action taken regarding the release. Our heads of state are lying under oath that there is no credible evidence in these files.
For anyone with their right mind, this must seem absurd. The events that occur seemingly every day spit in the face of what we consider American. It should ignite a sort of righteous anger and a thirst for justice. Something shared by all people of right mind and soul. There should be an overwhelming wave of calls to action.
Yet, it seems like hardly anyone cares.
There is no widespread action, no united front against the corruption of our government. The calls for justice and outrage have fallen silent, mere whispers falling on what are already deaf ears.
It’s safe to say that America has fallen from grace. That it is no longer worth fighting for. You might be right. Maybe it’s too late for any of us to try anything at all. The system has seemingly forsaken us, and it seems like things will only get worse from here on out. No empire lasts forever, right?
America is not just a government. Sure, the state determines what new political disaster we go through every day.
But the heart of America is the people. America is made up of the lost, the poor, the tired. It’s made up of the worker, the immigrant and the criminal. The rich and the poor, the lost and the found. The Catholic and the Jew, the Muslim and the atheist. It’s made up of me and you.
America is the greatest nation in the world, purely because of what we are made of and what we believe in. We believe in democracy. We believe in liberty, “a city shining upon a hill.” America is a place like no other, a light to all. Even if its light has dimmed, it can be brightened once again. The institutions we have lost our faith in can be trusted once again. Our nation will not be judged by how far it’s fallen, but by how tall it will stand after.
The change will not happen overnight. Justice does not happen overnight. It starts with you and it starts with me. It starts with those of us who will chase the American dream that has seemingly fallen asleep. To all those who want there to be a change, go out and pursue it.
It starts right here and now, with your commitment to service and change. It starts in the universities, the workplaces and at home. It starts with your vote, your service and your calls for action. Your commitment to education, your desire for change, your dedication to your career. It starts with people who dream of law, of politics, of justice. It is our duty as Americans to pursue the dreams of liberty and democracy.
We must go into the nation and shape it as such. We will be the generation that will go out into the government that has made us downtrodden and remake it into something better. Something worth fighting for, something worth believing in. Democracy is worth fighting for, and its fight starts with you.
As John F. Kennedy said, “Let every nation know … that we shall pay any price, bear any burden … to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
