Our beginnings were humble. We who were born here can find it so easy to take this fact for granted in our generally affluent nation. We must take the good with the bad in our history. Yes, there were great injustices by today's standards, but if you view things through a historical and non judgmental lens, you will see why the history books are written with an idealistic and optimistic approach - compared to how we often feel. We, sitting in our sterile environments, take for granted the freedoms we have. Please, bear with me for one more serious post. After this, I will try to find something more fun to entertain you with. Of course, it wouldn't be a Free Speech blog without the blogger talking largely about the things that are important to them.
Freedom isn't free: A short history of our struggle for freedom and rights for all.
That is not just some phrase on a bumper sticker. Ordinary men, and some women, fought the Revolutionary War for Independence from the then oppressive British government. In 1812, we had to fight them again in a "second war of independence". We won. Later, after many years, the fight over the freedom of all men was fought in blood and ink, where upon at the head of the whole thing Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the freedom of Slaves. This was backed up by a Constitutional Amendment, no doubt after a great heated series of debates in Congress and the Senate. That was not the end. Even during this time Native Americans were still being mistreated in a series of backstabbing by certain members of the military and government. Black men did not get the right to vote, until 1870 - but the laws did not catch up with the 15th amendment [which covers all races, creeds, and 'colors'] until 1965. There were a great number of protests and other forms of attempts at convincing the government to be fair to them as well. Women did not get to vote the same as men until 1920 - some 50 years after black men. While the voting field was even by that point, there was a good deal of struggle and strife. Women were still treated as subservient creatures meant to bear children and care takers of the home. Blacks were treated as second class citizens in a very prejudiced world. And it wasn't just blacks, it was all non white races and immigrants. Workers suffered greatly with no protection until they formed Labor Unions and battled corruption - sometimes with loss of blood and life. They weren't protected by law until 1911, which did not mean things went smoothly. Then there was World War I. Why did we see that as a war we had to get ourselves involved in? Well, we didn't start out that way. We were isolationists - having no desire to interact with the outside world and its struggles. However, what changed all that was the simple fact we were not allowed to stay out of it. Our own CIVILIANS were being slaughtered by the German military back then. Every day men and women, not soldiers, were being killed while they were simply doing every day things traveling on boats across the Atlantic. This is the first, that I am aware of, terrorist action ever committed against the USA. When meditations and negotiations FAILED we were forced to join in WWI. That conflict over, we flourished for a time. Then ... the Great Depression happened. We whine and complain about our economy right now, take some time to read up on that horrible debacle. There are entire books written on it and documentaries if you don't want to bother reading it. We came through with the sweat and perseverance, and a lot of retooling of the system to help root out corruption. Then, WWII started. We did not jump in right away. Why? Because we did not want to be involved again. Our government did know about things going on over seas, just like before, but the feeling was 'It is not our war. We do not need to be involved. We don't want to know about the problems of others.' Even when
[Just because you think that our great grand parents and grand parents were gungho, please look at the context.]
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